Turnabout of the Night
by Sith Droideka
Summary: Miles Edgeworth is vampire. Phoenix Wright is not. The von Karmas are all vampire slayers, and Los Angeles is home to underground vampire courts. Hey, how else are you supposed to keep the population stable? Join Phoenix on his journey through the paranormal and his quest to get sexy vampire Edgeworth to turn him! ...or at least love him back.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Happy Halloween everybody! Here's my Halloween special, or at least the start of it. I'm not actually done with it yet, but I wanted to upload it today... I've already completed five chapters and I've started work on the sixth (about halfway through the plot by now). I really need to be working on the next Janaverse fic, though...**

 **Anyway, this was vaguely inspired by something super old on the kink meme. Also, scattered throughout this fic you're going to find a ton of references to vampire media and lore, and it can get pretty esoteric sometimes, so I helpfully explain all the references at the end of each chapter. You're welcome.**

* * *

 _February 28, 7:47 PM, High Prosecutor's Office_

There was literally no reason for Edgeworth to call Phoenix to his office at this time of day. There _was_ a reason for Edgeworth to _be_ here this late - it seemed as though the man never stopped working. In fact, he had been working harder than ever lately; he was definitely paler than when Phoenix had last seen him. Although that wasn't saying much. Edgeworth and sunlight appeared to be mutually exclusive.

"Did you need something?" Phoenix said lamely. He had been standing in front of Edgeworth's desk for what had to be at _least_ fifteen minutes (okay, maybe thirty seconds) with Edgeworth ignoring him.

"Actually," Edgeworth said, shuffling his papers back into their neat little file without looking up at Phoenix, "there was something that I decided I need to tell you, Wright."

Instantly, Phoenix's heart was in his throat. He knew it would be ridiculous to hope that what Edgeworth had to say was what Phoenix _hoped_ Edgeworth had to say but ah, dang, _that's definitely_ not _going to be it_ , Phoenix thought. _With my luck, he's probably… straight or something_. Despite the fact that Edgeworth was, well, Edgeworth and hey - what was Phoenix thinking, anyway?

Edgeworth was glaring at him, apparently wondering the same thing. "Finished staring off into space, Wright?"

"Sorry, what?" Phoenix said, feeling his face heat up. Great, only about three minutes into the meeting and he'd already made a fool of himself. At least Edgeworth was used to that.

Edgeworth put his file down and stood up, sighing. "Where to start with this," he muttered, mostly to himself, then said, "first off, Wright, you are aware that I do _not_ joke around, correct?"

Phoenix stared at him blankly for a moment before slowly saying, "Yeeesss…?"

Edgeworth nodded once and said, "and do you agree to the stipulation that this conversation is not to leave this room?"

Phoenix blinked rapidly a few times before nodding. He didn't quite trust his mouth not to do something really stupid.

"What I am about to say is going to sound ridiculous, but please believe me," Edgeworth said, taking a deep breath. "Wright, I…"

He trailed off, looking to the side… embarrassed? Phoenix vaguely gesticulated a "go ahead" - he still didn't think he could say anything and have it not be really, really dumb. Or without his voice cracking. Whichever.

Edgeworth shifted uncomfortably, then looked Phoenix directly in the eyes. "Wright," he said, "I'm a vampire."

 _Now_ Phoenix found his voice. "You're a what."

"A vampire."

"You're ki-" Phoenix cut himself off. Edgeworth seemed way too serious about this. "A… a v-vampire?" he said, unsure if he heard him right.

"Yes," Edgeworth said simply, "a vampire."

"Wh…" Phoenix's brain appeared to be shutting down in self-defense. "Huh?"

Edgeworth sighed irritably, pulled his sleeve back slightly, and thrust his hand towards Phoenix. "Look," he said, "tell me if you feel a pulse."

Dumbfounded, Phoenix took Edgeworth's hand and pressed his fingers to the wrist. His skin was dead cool - well, not really a surprise; again: Edgeworth and human warmth were not concepts usually associated with each other - and it had that unnerving too-firm not-firm-enough feel of a fresh corpse - and sure enough, there was no pulse to be found. Startled by this, Phoenix forgot himself and practically threw himself at Edgeworth, pressing his ear against the latter's chest before he got the chance to respond. There was no heartbeat to be heard.

"Gg-! Get off of me!" Edgeworth shouted, shoving Phoenix roughly away.

"Sorry, sorry," Phoenix said, backing away as fast as he could, "but, like - a real vampire? Like in the movies?"

"…depends on what sort of movies you've been watching," Edgeworth said, peering at Phoenix warily. It was only now that Phoenix noticed, when Edgeworth talked, that his canine teeth had grown longer and sharper.

"Uh, you know, the classics," Phoenix said defensively. He probably shouldn't bring up _Twilight_. "I mean… vampires are pretty cool, so…" What was he saying? _Shut up, Phoenix,_ he told himself.

"You only say that because you haven't had the _privilege_ of being an undead abomination," Edgeworth said dryly, rolling his eyes.

"You could make me an undead abomination."

There was a brief pause, and Phoenix buried his face in his hands. He knew that was stupid as soon as the word "you" had passed his lips but his mouth didn't appear to be cooperating with his brain tonight. Edgeworth looked offended…

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that," Edgeworth said stiffly, "anyway, Wright, when I set aside time for this meeting I did so with the assumption that you would have questions."

"Oh, right," Phoenix said, blinking. "Um…"

"Go ahead," Edgeworth said with an even glare.

Phoenix glanced around the room awkwardly for a second before saying, "How many of those old vampire-y legends are true, then?"

"Most of them," Edgeworth said mildly.

"Very helpful."

"I try."

"I mean, like, the stuff about garlic, wild rose, hawthorn plants, aloe vera, and mustard seeds," Phoenix clarified, "and being repelled by crosses, not being able to cross running water, burning or weakening in the sunlight, sleeping in coffins, being killed by stakes and beheading, being able to hypnotize people-"

"One at a time," Edgeworth snapped, "and _why_ do you know so much about vampire legends?"

"…as I said, vampires are pretty cool," Phoenix said, then coughed to cover up the discomfiture.

Edgeworth rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said, "some of what you know is wrong but more than you'd probably think is accurate. For instance, the apotropiacs you mentioned don't necessarily repel a vampire, but it's not uncommon to develop an allergy to any or all of those plants upon being turned. Additionally, many vampires dislike how garlic and mustard make the blood taste."

"…blood tastes different depending on what you eat?" Phoenix said, tilting his head slightly, "what else effects the flavor? Just out of curiosity."

Edgeworth eyed him suspiciously, but said, "Mainly health and age. Someone like you - healthy, more or less, and in the prime of his life - would have very… desirable blood." He cleared his throat. "Another desirable trait would be virginity; virgins are purported to have the tastiest blood." He rushed on before Phoenix could make an inappropriate comment about the status of his innocence, which was probably for the best. "Different blood types taste different, with O negative being widely regarded as the best and AB positive as the worst."

"I'm B positive," Phoenix commented helpfully.

"Most vampires have a favorite blood type," Edgeworth said, ignoring Phoenix's help. "Blood diseases and the like taint the flavor of the blood, as does having a tattoo or regularly consuming alcohol, tobacco or anything with nicotine, or drugs, legal or not. Reputedly, though, the biggest factor in flavor is actually the relationship between the vampire and the… donor. The stronger the, for lack of a better word, bond between them, the better it tastes."

"So it depends on how much you love the donor?" Phoenix said, "…so do vampires just, I don't know, get a human family member or close friend to be some kind of snack donor?"

Edgeworth shifted slightly, frowning. "While preferred personal donors aren't uncommon, since the amount of blood required for a 'meal' is not a particularly dangerous amount as long as feedings are restrained to about twice a week or less, they're typically lovers, for… obvious reasons."

Phoenix blinked in confusion, then felt his face heat up - _again!_ \- as he realized the kind of nature vampiric feedings must have. "Do you… do you have a personal donor?"

"No," Edgeworth said flatly, "like most vampires around here, I subsist on blood packets helpfully collected and provided by the local Red Cross - and before you ask, no, we can't subsist on animal blood; it'd be akin to trying to survive on a diet of bread and water alone. Also, all of the information I just gave you about flavor is second hand, as I was only turned a few days ago." He sighed.

"Wait," Phoenix said, frowning, "'like most vampires around here'?"

"That will be explained later. Now, as for your other questions: being repelled by religious symbols is fairly subjective, as for the most part it depends on the faith of the person wielding the symbol, which can actually be from any religion," Edgeworth said, sounding very much as though he were reciting out of a textbook, "vampires cannot, in fact, cross running water, but only if it is relatively pure and directly from a natural source, so pipes and polluted rivers affect them - affect… us no more than they would a human."

"…how do _you_ know so much about this?" Phoenix said, crossing his arms and giving Edgeworth a suspicious look, "you just said you'd only been turned a few days ago - and how come you accepted it so fast? Shouldn't you be in denial or something?"

"Again, that will be explained later," Edgeworth said, waving him off, "as I was saying, the legend about burning - or being weakened - in sunlight is partially true. Vampire skin is very photosensitive, so being in direct sunlight for even a short amount of time will result in severe sunburns that can, if exposure to the sun is prolonged, eventually kill the vampire through a process similar to heatstroke. Of course," he added, picking up on Phoenix's concern, "vampires such as I, who wish to continue living and working in the human world, have access to a special kind of sunblock… I was told it was invented about 25 years ago by a vampire who happened to have a human son whom he did not wish to abandon upon being turned."

"Interesting," Phoenix said, just to have something to say.

"Moving on. Sleeping in coffins is a complete falsehood, purely because vampires do not need to sleep. They - _we_ can if we wish to, but most don't bother with it."

"Including you," Phoenix guessed.

Edgeworth nodded. "I have no time for it - during the day I continue my human life, but during the night I am forced to lead a vampiric life." He shifted uncomfortably again. "Or at least I will soon. A few days are given to adjust before… nevermind, that will also be explained later. Anyway, back to answering your questions-" Phoenix frowned at Edgeworth's poor attempt at a segue, so unlike him! "Beheading and staking are, while not technically the _only_ way to kill a vampire, the easiest and most reliable ones, so they're a favorite of vampire slayers."

"Vampire slayers?" Phoenix said, stunned.

Edgeworth gave him a slightly sardonic smirk before answering, "of course. How else do you think the vampire population remains stable? We have no natural predators, no illnesses, and we recover from all other injuries - and once we're turned, we no longer age and die of natural causes. But you'll be hearing more about that later. Where was I?"

Phoenix looked over Edgeworth, carefully trying to memorize his features. _No more aging, huh?_ It honestly sounded kind of awesome to Phoenix - to not have to worry about getting old and sick or even have to worry about getting hit by a bus. A vampiric reassurance of immortality would have come in handy at Hazakura temple! "So the not aging thing is because you're undead, right?"

"I'm not sure I like that term," Edgeworth said, frowning, "but yes, it is. We are undead… our hearts don't beat, our blood doesn't flow; we don't even breathe."

"You look like you're breathing to me."

"Pure habit - the same can be said for blinking," Edgeworth said dismissively, "plus, it's the only way to smell - a sense of smell is very important to a predator, so it's one of the things that is… augmented upon turning." Phoenix wondered if he was supposed to notice the sigh at the end of the sentence.

"Okay, what about hypnosis, turning into bats, super strength, switching your humanity 'on' and 'off'…"

"Where did you get that last one from?"

"Uh… nowhere."

Edgeworth's lips twitched in irritation before he answered. "A vampire is only slightly stronger than they were as a human, although their endurance increases exponentially. And it is true that some vampires - some very old vampires - have 'magical' powers like turning into mist or controlling packs of wolves, to use a famous example. I've heard that the only ability that can be satisfactorily grasped in less than a quarter-century is hypnosis."

"I see," Phoenix said at length.

"Any other questions?"

"Do you show up in mirrors?" Phoenix had already confirmed that he cast a shadow.

"Yes, assuming there is no silver involved."

"Is arithmomania common or what?" Edgeworth gave him a weird look. "What?"

"Anything else?"

"Yeah - how exactly do you turn a vampire, anyway?" As casual as possible. Phoenix smiled disarmingly.

"…in light of your previous stupid comment, I'm not going to answer that."

"Fine, be that way. Hmm… well, if you don't mind my asking, who… who turned you?"

Edgeworth was silent for a moment, then his usually blank face broke into that strangely adorable worried expression that Phoenix was much more used to seeing when Edgeworth's carefully-planned life was falling apart. Which, he supposed, it kind of was. "That… has yet to be proven."

"…huh?"

—

 _February 28, 11:30 PM, Wright and Co. Law Offices, Phoenix Wright's bedroom_

Despite the repeated brushings-off of questions with the justification of "That will be explained later," Phoenix had been practically shoved out the door when Edgeworth decided that he wanted to go back to work. Or that he'd had enough Phoenix for one night. Frustrated, Phoenix had gone home and gone to bed without answering Maya or Pearls' questions about what Edgeworth had wanted, and he was now lying awake, staring at the ceiling, mulling over the unanswered questions and the implications thereof.

His vague fantasizing of being Edgeworth's personal donor and maybe (accidentally?) getting turned into a powerful, immortal vampire was interrupted by the sound of the window opening. Wait, what?

He jolted up and stared at the window that overlooked only the urine-stained alley right outside the Wright and Co. Law Offices. Yep, it was open, and sitting on the sill was a haughty-looking woman with an impassive expression. Her clothing practically screamed "von Karma" despite the tatters - and the fact that her brooch was shaped like teutonic cross, which Phoenix had never associated with the von Karmas - although he couldn't be sure if the dark-blue-and-black color scheme was just a trick of the moonlight or not, since the streetlamp that usually covered this side of the building was out again. Her hair was also an ambiguous color in the moonlight - perhaps blue-grey, like Franziska's? - and it was very long, pulled back in an unruly ponytail that mirrored the fringe that folded up over her forehead and trailed down over one shoulder. And she had a long, thin scar on the cheek not covered by her hair.

"Are you done staring at me?" she said in a clear, slightly German-accented voice.

"S-Sorry," Phoenix said, touching the back of his neck sheepishly, "you must be, uh, Manfred von Karma's older daughter, right? The one with the daughter?"

She smiled almost imperceptibly. "And you must be the fool who broke both of my younger siblings' perfect records." She bowed her head slightly. "Eva von Karma, vampire slayer, at your service."

"Phoenix Wright, defense attorney, at yours." He answered more out of habit than anything else. "…vampire slayer?"

She pulled an ash wood stake out from a sheath on her belt and toyed with it, running her thumb over the sharp end thoughtfully. "How much do you know about the family von Karma?"

"Uh. They're German, all prosecutors, and obsessed with perfection."

"Two and a half out of three - not bad," Eva said with another small smile. "For your information, Phoenix Wright, there are two favored professions in our family: prosecuting and slaying vampires. They're more similar than you think," she added, raising an eyebrow, presumably at Phoenix's confusion. Then she added again, as an afterthought: "Oh, and even though we are German, von Karmas have lived and worked in Los Angeles since its founding."

"…o-kay," Phoenix said slowly.

"You know both my younger sister and my adopted younger brother," Eva said, tilting her head, "but I don't suppose either of them ever told you they were trained from a young age in the science and art of policing and culling the vampire population in this city."

"…no."

She smirked briefly. "Figures. Miles, in the end, chose to become solely a prosecutor. Finding out at age nine that vampires were real was a bit of a shock to him, so he tried very hard to put that entire side of life behind him. Franziska also chose to focus on prosecuting, although unlike Miles she doesn't constrain it to human courts."

"Human… courts?" Phoenix's eyes widened. "So, there are vampire courts?"

"That's what I'm here for," Eva said lightly, "I'm sure you've heard a little of this already, but the vampires here aren't allowed to run wild like they are in _other_ cities which I will not name. They have two major rules: do not kill, and do not turn. The penalties for breaking these rules is one and the same: death. To keep the population from growing, you understand."

"So you put them on trial first?"

"Of course we do. Actually, a trial for killing a human - or another vampire - and a trial for turning a human are very similar, as most new vampires don't actually remember their turning. This is at least partially because if a vampire is going to intentionally turn someone, they're going to try and make sure that the new vampire won't make an accusation."

"Did Edgeworth make an accusation?"

Eva shook her head. "He was asleep when turned - evidence suggests that he was actually smothered into unconsciousness before the act of turning itself. If vampires weren't involved, you would definitely have a premeditated murder on your hards."

Despite himself, Phoenix shivered. "Alright, so I guess the trial's coming up, then, right? Edgeworth mentioned 'a few days to adjust'…"

"Yes, that's actually what I'm here about," Eva said, "you were one of the first people that Miles told about his newfound vampirism. That means that you're invited to the trail." She smiled, and Phoenix was almost surprised to see that her teeth, while straight and white and perfect, were plainly human. "Actually, you're obligated to go."

Phoenix gave her an odd look. "As a witness or something?"

"No, no - the days leading up to the turning trial is the only time when the new vampire can tell as many people as they like about their species change. Then, whoever they tell has to come watch the trial so that they can learn a little bit about the vampire world that the new vampire is - in most cases, anyway - going to be spending the rest of their unnatural life in." She resheathed the stake, and stretched her shoulders a little, almost unnervingly casual. "They also have to watch the slaying at the end of it, if the accused is found guilty."

"Sounds brutal."

"I suppose. Vampires just skeletalize upon slaying, so you kind of get used to it."

"I guess. So when and where is the trial? Oh, and who else is 'invited'?"

"It's tomorrow night," Eva said, "someone will come collect you, don't worry. Perhaps even Miles - he knew all this in advance, of course. He's known for years. Be sure not to forget that." She brushed her hair out of her eyes and continued, "the only other person he bothered telling was that detective he hangs out with - Dick Gumshoe. He'll be there, too."

"One more thing," Phoenix said, glancing at the door of his room, "I figure I'm supposed to keep all this a secret, but-"

"Don't worry, there are no real consequences for 'revealing' that vampires exist to other humans as long as you don't try to involve them in the vampire community itself - not that your options there are wide, either," Eva said, "people will just think you're crazy, so it won't matter."

"You don't know Maya."

Eva frowned. "Maya… Maya Fey, oh yes - she's of the least concern. She already knows."

Phoenix did a double-take. "Wha-at?"

"You know how vampires are, technically speaking, dead?"

"Yes?"

"That means that they can be channelled - and we have to do that sometimes, so there's actually a branch of the Fey family that works very closely with we von Karmas in our investigations and law enforcement."

"…ah. I didn't think that she was _serious_ about her scary vampire stories."

"I can't say how much she knows, honestly," Eva said with a shrug, "just that she should be aware of that particular branch and its function."

"Is she supposed to come to the trial with me?"

"Only if she wants to."

Phoenix nodded absently. It'd probably just be easier for everyone involved if he didn't mention the trial to her and just let her go to bed without knowing that 'someone' was coming to 'collect' Phoenix. "Can I ask just one more thing?"

"Do you always do that?"

"Yeah - who exactly is accused of turning Edgeworth, anyway?"

Eva leaned back slightly, with a smug, assured, accomplished look on her face. "Some woman who managed to get herself turned in prison - she only just got out and the first thing she does is turn an old colleague. What a bat."

Phoenix sat a little straighter at 'old colleague'. "Wait, don't tell me her name is…"

"Lana Skye."

—

 **Everything Phoenix asks about is a part of vampire mythologies from around the world. If you want to get more specific, look it up on Wikipedia. Edgeworth's responses are mostly my interpretations. And although I pull this in other fics sometimes, just know that Edgeworth is actually a reliable source of information and everything in the fic should be consistent with what he tells Phoenix, assuming I don't screw up my own fanon.**

" **Turning emotions on and off" is a thing in Vampire Diaries, apparently. (I don't watch Vampire Diaries, so I had to look it up.) Turning into mist and controlling wolves comes from Bram Stoker's Dracula.**

 **Also, Eva has an ash wood stake in particular because ash wood is the preferred way to kill a vampire in Russia and the Baltics.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I love it when people try to guess the next plot development. Keep it up!**

* * *

 _March 1, 10:45 PM, Wright and Co. Law Offices_

If Phoenix had been expecting subtlety, that was exactly what he didn't get.

"Mr. Nick, who is that honking their car horn outside?" Pearls said.

Maya ran over and stuck her head out of the window. "Hey, it's Franziska. Hi, Franziska! Nice car!"

The car horn blared again. "I'll go see what she wants," Phoenix said lamely, and jogged out before Maya or Pearls could stop him.

"Hurry up, Phoenix Wright," Franziska yelled as soon as Phoenix hit the bottom landing. "We do not have all night."

"I know, I know," Phoenix said, sliding into the passenger seat of the flashy, powder-blue convertible.

"Are Maya and Pearl Fey planning on accompanying you?"

Phoenix shook his head. "I didn't tell them about the… everything."

Franziska nodded once and revved the engine. Phoenix had just enough to time to wave at Maya and Pearls before she sped off into the night.

"So where exactly _is_ the trial?" Phoenix asked. He noticed that they were headed in the same direction as the district court.

"Surely you have noticed the direction we are headed in, Phoenix Wright," Franziska scoffed.

"Well, yes."

"Did you ever notice that the building has a basement?"

"Ah," Phoenix said, gazing impassively over the road ahead of them. Underground vampire courts of Los Angeles was already a funny enough concept - did they have to be _literally under the ground_ on top of it? Still, he let the winding Los Angeles roads lull him into pensiveness.

"Do not get involved with the other audience members," Franziska commanded - derailing Phoenix's train of thought - as she pulled into her parking space. "Except for the Scruffy Detective, the only other humans here will be involved in the trial."

"Got it," Phoenix said, stepping out of the car. Franziska walked briskly to the back entrance of the courthouse, and Phoenix trotted after her. "Will I get to talk to Edgeworth before the trial or do I just sit down and watch?"

"It does not matter to me either way," Franziska said, pulling open the door. Phoenix wondered briefly if having it unlocked all night during vampire trials ever lead to problems. He didn't have much time to think about it, though - he didn't know where the basement door was, even after three years, and Franziska walked directly to it as though she were alone or at least with someone who had also memorized the full layout of the courthouse. They descended the stairs in silence, and Phoenix noticed the temperature dropping by a few full degrees, probably. _How does she do this in such a short skirt?_ Phoenix thought, purposefully looking away from said skirt lest he get caught and whipped. _I guess I shouldn't be surprised - she wore the same skirt when she was investigating for Iris' trial…_

Phoenix was so distracted by the newfound fact that the basement of the courthouse had the exact same layout as the main level that he actually lost Franziska. Sure, he heard the click of her heels as she walked away, but he didn't exactly have vampiric super-hearing (they got that, right?) to follow precisely where she went. "Dang it," he said out loud. He considered looking in random courtrooms until he found Lana or Edgeworth or one of the von Karma sisters, but although that was systematic enough to work, he wasn't sure if there were other trials going on. He certainly didn't want to interrupt a vampire trial, especially as a human-

"'Scuse me," a high-pitched, vaguely German voice said behind him. He jumped - he hadn't heard anyone approach - and practically pirouetted, trying to turn around.

Maybe he overreacted. It was a young girl, maybe nine, with Sunday-best ribbons-and-ruffles clothing and blue-black hair that had a little kink in the bangs like Eva's, except that this girl's hair was carefully combed back and only just brushed her shoulders. Again like Eva, she had Franziska's-Porsche-blue eyes, which Phoenix found himself searching, looking for some kind of spark that indicated that this girl was immortal ages older than nine.

"Are you Uncle Miles' friend?" she said. Phoenix did his best to surreptitiously check her teeth as she did so, and while her canines were a little large, it wasn't necessarily unnatural. Or supernatural, as it were.

"Yeah, I am," he said, leaning down a bit like he did when he was talking to Pearls. "Are you Eva's daughter?" She nodded brightly. "Heidi, right? Edgeworth told me about you a few years ago, when he got arrested."

"I remember that," Heidi said, smiling. "So you're here for Uncle Miles' trial? Did Aunt Franz lose you?"

"Yep," Phoenix said, with his typical sheepish gesture. Then he froze. "Hang on. Uh - your Aunt Franz told me that the only humans here besides the ones involved in the trial would be Gumshoe and me." He straightened up, suddenly a little more wary than he could properly account for. "Are you… someone's assistant?"

Heidi's smile widened. "Um, I'm not really _human_ , Mr. Wright." She put her hands up defensively, probably because Phoenix recoiled slightly. "I'm just a dhampir. I'm half-human, but my dad was a vampire…"

"Oh," Phoenix said lamely. A vampire hunter marrying and having a kid with a vampire? Maybe it wasn't so odd in Los Angeles. Or at least it wouldn't be, if it weren't for the troubling use of past tense. "If it's alright to ask about it, Heidi, what happened to your father?"

Heidi's face fell, and she looked at her shiny black shoes. Phoenix almost hugged her just for that. "He… he, um, got slain. I don't really know what exactly happened or who did it or why or anything."

"I'm sorry I brought it up."

"No, it's fine," Heidi said, looking back up. Her eyes seemed overbright now, but she wasn't crying. _Can dhampirs even cry in the first place?_ Phoenix would have to ask Edgeworth or someone about it later. "It happened when I was really little, so I don't mind much." She scuffed her foot against the floor, then said, "anyway, Uncle Miles sent to me to go find you, since he kinda wanted to see you before the trial."

"Alright," Phoenix said.

"I knew it was you because you smell like a human, and there's only four of you here tonight," Heidi said proudly, "also, Uncle Miles said your hair looked like Phoenix's fur, so I was extra sure I had the right one!"

"Oh," Phoenix said, blinking. The thought crossed his mind: _Does Heidi consider herself more a vampire than a human? Or does she not think of herself as either?_ "Phoenix - your dog, right?"

"Mmhm. Wanna see him? He's always with me," Heidi said, then whistled loudly before Phoenix could respond.

There was the sudden click of nails, then a dog came bounding around the corner - no, not a dog, it was a church grim, a moddey dhoo, huge and black with fur that stuck up in odd spikes at every angle - the akhlut-out-of-water slid to sit next to Heidi. She petted the head of the Catalonian Dip, and gave Phoenix an expectant, shyly prideful smile.

"Shoulda named him Barghest," Phoenix said faintly, unable to take his eyes off the gwyllgi. Old Shuck stared right back at him with too-intelligent hour-before-dawn-colored eyes.

"You know mythology pretty well, don't you?" Heidi chirped, petting her oil-slick waheela like it couldn't swallow her arm whole if it wanted to. Which maybe it didn't. Maybe Phoenix was just making unfair assumptions because this dang dog was freaking _huge_.

"Maya got me into it," Phoenix said, swallowing hard. Phoenix-the-wolf grinned in that strange canine way, tongue lolling out. Harmlessly. Nonthreateningly. Pacifyingly. And now that Phoenix could look at the massive mastiff with eyes unclouded by fear - er, surprise - he could see how his greying ears were battered and nicked, and his silvered muzzle had ugly claw marks across it - surely not his only scars. And now that Phoenix-the-wolf was licking Heidi's face and wagging his tail so hard that his whole body shook back and forth, it was obvious that he had spent his long life protecting and caring for Heidi, and perhaps previous generations of von Karmas.

"Well, let's get going," Heidi said, affectionately pushing Phoenix-the-wolf aside and striding forward confidently. "Come on, Phoenix, Mr. Wright."

* * *

 _March 1, 11:15 PM, District Court, Prosecution's Lobby B-3_

As expected, Heidi led Phoenix directly to where Edgeworth was, which was also where Franziska and Eva were - they were talking to each other in German, and Heidi immediately ran up to them and inserted herself into the conversation. Phoenix-the-wolf scampered up to Edgeworth and practically bowled him over, demanding headpats. Phoenix laughed as Edgeworth obliged him.

"You told me about the dog a few years ago - you didn't mention it was actually a _bear_ dog," Phoenix joked.

"As I recall, all I did was mention him offhand," Edgeworth said stiffly, still scratching Phoenix-the-wolf behind the ears. _Dog person, huh?_

"It's kind of funny how similar his fur is to my hair."

"…his eyes are the same color, as well," Edgeworth said evenly.

Franziska walked over, smirking. "I suppose you did not tell him who named this dog, did you, Miles Edgeworth?"

Phoenix spocked an eyebrow at him. "It wasn't you, was it?"

Edgeworth frowned uncomfortably. "It was," he admitted. "It was, however, an accident."

Eva walked over now, Heidi in tow. "We actually got Phoenix from a mysterious traveller around my twelfth birthday. It was just after Miles joined our household, and while we were trying to figure out what to name the dog, he happened to bring up a 'similar-looking' classmate." She eyed both Phoenices amusedly. "As soon as the name 'Phoenix' came out of his mouth, our new pet wouldn't respond to anything else."

"I think it's a good name," Heidi said, joining Edgeworth in the dispensing of the scritches. "Who's a good boy? You're a good boy!"

"Wright, I didn't send Heidi to go find you so we could talk about dogs," Edgeworth sighed.

"No, no, I think it's sweet that you accidentally named a hellhound after me," Phoenix _almost_ said, but didn't actually. Instead, he said, "what exactly do we need to talk about?"

Edgeworth gave him a very tight-lipped look, then glanced at Franziska, who rolled her eyes at him. "Nevermind," he grumbled. Phoenix raised his eyebrows again, but decided not to push Edgeworth.

There was a knock on the door. "Oh, right," Eva said, "Lana Skye got that defense attorney who always insists on talking to the victim before the trial starts."

Franziska's face briefly contracted in irritation, but she still made a vague "Let him in" gesture with the handle of her whip. Heidi obediently skipped over to the door and opened it wide. "Hello, Mr. Edgeworth!"

Edgeworth and Phoenix both exchanged startled expressions, then whipped their heads towards the door.

The man in the doorway did a double-take, too.

The man in the doorway was Gregory Edgeworth.

"Father?!"

"Son?!"

"Wait, that's your dad?" Heidi said, shocked, "Aunt Franz said he was just one of your ancestors!"

"I thought he was!" Franziska immediately said, taking her chagrin out on her whip. "He never told me how old he is!"

"You're - alive?" Edgeworth sputtered, ignoring Franziska and Heidi.

"Well, no," Gregory said.

"That's not what I-"

"Miles, as much as I hate to say it," Gregory interrupted gently, "we can talk about this later. Right now, your friend's life is on the line."

Edgeworth stared at his father, his face varying shades of upset - confused and hurt, mostly - but then it smoothed over into the professional, detached, slightly bored expression he wore to court. "Of course. But we _will_ talk about this immediately after the trial."

"Of course," Gregory said, "I have a lot to answer for… but at the moment we need to talk about Ms. Skye."

"I'll just be going, then," Phoenix mumbled and edged out of the room. He had no business in this trial except for watching it and hoping that Lana really hadn't been the one to turn Edgeworth into a vampire… mostly for her sake, since he failed to see the _problem_ with being a vampire. Especially now that it turned out that Edgeworth's long-lost dad was also a vampire!

Okay, so he did kind of want to hear the story behind that. But he was kind of doubtful Edgeworth would confide in him.

* * *

 _March 2, 12:00 AM, District Court, Courtroom B-3_

It was easy to find Gumshoe in the gallery, especially since there weren't a lot of other people - _vampires_ , Phoenix mentally corrected himself, then immediately wondered if the correction was, like, racist or something - in the gallery. He barely had time to greet him - "I always knew there was something funny about the von Karmas, pal" - before the the gavel felled a call to order.

"Court is now in session for the trial of Lana Skye."

Phoenix was surprised to see that the judge was the very same one who always presided over _his_ trials. His _human_ trials. Was… was the Judge a vampire? Maybe that explained why he hadn't changed at all between that time Phoenix was on trial in college and now, and why there were never even any rumors about him retiring. _Note to self: ask_ someone _about this later_ , Phoenix thought, frowning.

"The prosecution is ready," Franziska said. She looked exactly the same as she did in a human court. They probably weren't any different for her, and Phoenix suspected that her victory streak had included vampiric trials.

"The defense is ready," Gregory said. He was the very image of calm determination that Edgeworth had described so many times to him back in fourth grade. Of course, Phoenix had to wonder how much a chance he had at this trial, considering he apparently hadn't even been told the name of the victim up until a few minutes ago…

"Ms. von Karma, your opening statement, please."

"It is a simple matter," Franziska said, folding her arms haughtily, "on the night of February 26, the defendant, Lana Skye, who had been turned in prison and had been recently released, broke into Miles Edgeworth's house and turned him into a vampire while he was sleeping. We have conclusive evidence to that effect."

"Very well," said the Judge, "any questions so far, Mr. Edgeworth?"

"No," Gregory said, "I would simply like the prosecution to outline their findings."

"Go ahead, Ms. von Karma."

"First I would like to outline how the turning happened." Franziska stretched her whip. "Around eleven at night, shortly before the victim returned home from work," _He really does work too late._ "Lana Skye entered the victim's house through a window that happened to be unlocked. She hid until he returned home and went to bed, and upon his falling asleep, she used a pillow to smother him until he lost consciousness. She then bit him on the vein at his elbow, and left. I was immediately contacted by the new vampire within a few hours."

"I see," said the Judge.

"And your evidence?" Gregory said.

"The pillow with traces of the victim's saliva, the bite mark which partially matches Lana Skye's teeth, and security footage of Lana Skye entering the victim's house."

"I didn't know Mr. Edgeworth had security cameras, pal," Gumshoe commented to Phoenix.

"Were Ms. Skye's fingerprints found on the pillow?" Gregory was asking.

"No. She wore gloves."

"And the bite mark was only a partial match?"

"Yes. The basilic vein is an awkward spot to bite, so she did not leave a full impression of her jaws. It's possible for the teeth to belong to someone else, but unlikely."

"So the only thing directly pointing to her as the perpetrator is the security footage," Gregory said. He sounded a heck of a lot calmer than Phoenix would have felt in this situation. This was a really big break!

Or apparently not, judging by Franziska's smirk. "Actually, Lana Skye was and is the only vampire with a standing invitation into the victim's house."

"And you confirmed that the turning happened in the house."

"Yes. There is no footage of the victim leaving the house between the time he came home from work and the time he contacted me to report his turning."

"And are cameras stationed at all the access points to the house?"

"There are no blind spots."

Gregory was silent for a moment.

"This all sounds very conclusive to me," said the Judge.

"Hold it, your Honor," Gregory said, "it would be unwise to render a verdict without first getting testimony from the accused."

"I suppose that's true…"

"The defense calls Lana Skye to the stand."

"How come the Judge doesn't let the defense call witnesses in _my_ trials?" Phoenix grumbled to Gumshoe.

"Maybe he just respects Mr. Edgeworth…'s dad more than you, pal."

"Witness, name and occupation."

"Lana Skye. U-Unemployed at the moment." She looked anxious.

"Tell us what happened the night of the crime," Franziska commanded.

"I was…" Lana said, "I was on my way to visit Jake Marshall for a meal. I don't recall ever getting there. Last I remember, I was on the subway around ten o'clock. Suddenly I was at Jake's apartment, feeling very dizzy and, I remember, confused… and then Mrs. von Karma showed up and arrested me. That was…"

"One in the morning," Gregory supplied.

"Yes, and I still have no idea what happened between ten and one," Lana said steadily.

"So you claim to have no memory of the crime," Franziska said stiffly.

"None whatsoever."

"Your Honor, I believe the defendant may have been hypnotized," Gregory said. What! Was he admitting that Lana really _had_ been the one to turn Edgeworth?

"Hmm," said the Judge, "because she doesn't remember committing the crime?"

Franziska cracked her whip. "She could be lying!"

Gregory shook his head. "There's one other thing," he said, "Ms. von Karma, you mentioned in your description of the crime that she entered through a window that happened to be unlocked. What makes you say that? Was that on the security footage?"

"The windows themselves are not in the footage, only the space surrounding them," Franziska said, clutching her shirtsleeves. "When we investigated, all the windows and doors were locked, as is the victim's custom. There were no signs of forced entry, the house was empty when Lana Skye entered it, and we were unable to locate any lock picking equipment…"

"So you think that one of the windows - or perhaps a door, I suppose - just chanced to be unlocked, and that the defendant locked it again upon leaving?"

"Yes."

"And yet arriving _before_ the victim came home from work would indicate that this was a premeditated crime - most likely planned out far in advance. Why plan around a simple chance?"

"It is possible that she had been biding her time for when the victim forgot to check his windows before he left," Franziska said. Gregory frowned.

"Do you have an alternate theory, Mr. Edgeworth?" the Judge asked.

Gregory nodded slowly, very seriously. "I believe the doors and widows remained locked the entire time, except for when my- when the victim came home."

"Then how did Ms. Skye get in?"

"The only way for her to get in under those circumstances would have been if she had transformed into mist."

"Preposterous," Franziska scoffed, "it takes almost a century for even a _prodigy_ to acquire this skill, and Lana Skye has been a vampire for less than two years."

"Ah," Gregory said, "but vampires under total hypnosis - which I believe Ms. Skye was put under - can be given powers beyond their abilities by their hypnotists."

"So you think that Ms. Skye is not responsible for this, and that the true criminal is another vampire entirely…?"

"That's exactly what I think, your Honor."

"Yes," Franziska said, " _think_. Your Honor, he has no proof."

"But-"

"It is obvious that Lana Skye was the _only one_ who could have turned the victim, since _no other_ vampire could get into his house, where the crime took place."

"…yes, I agree," Gregory said, "but if she was hypnotized-"

"There is no proof that she was," Franziska said, "the closest thing to support that you have for this theory is the point about the window, but it is equally as likely that it happened as _I_ described."

"She does have a point," the Judge mused.

Lana and Gregory exchanged forlorn looks, then Lana bowed her head. "Ms. Skye…" Gregory started.

Lana held up a hand. "I was already murdered in prison," she said distractedly, "I never wanted to be a vampire in the first place… With all this evidence, I'm sure that I was the one who turned Edgeworth, even if I was under hypnosis." She looked at Franziska. "I don't mind being… being…"

"The defense rests," Gregory said at length.

"Very well," the Judge said gravely, "this court finds the accused, Lana Skye, **GUILTY**." The gavel fell.

Phoenix was mildly stunned. He had never seen such an open-and-shut trial. And the prosecution's evidence was honestly rather flimsy (or at least the sort of thing that he would've expected Gregory to get around), except for the fact that no other vampire could have entered Edgeworth's house… but the defense had _no_ evidence on their side… so how else could it possibly have gone?

"No way, pal," Gumshoe was muttering, "they're gonna slay her, even though she was hypnotized… what a miscarriage of justice…! I can't look, pal!" He covered his face with his hands as Eva strolled up to the witness stand where Lana was still standing, motionless.

Phoenix couldn't look, either, but he was unable to tear his gaze away or even close his eyes as Eva unsheathed her ash wood stake and raised it over her head. Should he do something? Jump up and shout, "Objection!"? But Lana had already been declared guilty, and worse, she had accepted her sentence even before it was handed down…! He clapped his hands over his mouth in horror as the stake came plunging down into Lana's breast, and she made no attempted to cower, or run, or fight back, or even face her second death with her head held high. Her flesh instantly turned to ugly gray dust that billowed out over the witness stand and her bones clattered to the floor. Eva nonchalantly resheathed her stake and brushed the dust - brushed _Lana_ \- off her pants.

"Bailiff, get the vacuum," she said.

* * *

 _March 2, 12:45 AM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby B-3_

"What was _that?!_ " Phoenix yelled, bursting into the defendant's lobby where the two Edgeworths were already. "She didn't - she wasn't responsible for - they just _killed_ her!"

Gregory shook his head sadly. "You have to understand, Phoenix," he said, "the laws are designed to keep the vampire population down. Unless I have concrete proof that the defendant was not responsible for the turning - whether because they were hypnotized or otherwise coerced into doing it, or had nothing to do with the turning at all - the defendant will, without a doubt, be slain."

"I can't believe…" Phoenix muttered, pressing a hand against his forehead. "That's… unfair."

"You also have to understand," Edgeworth said, looking away evasively, "that with few exceptions, every vampire in the city has already had their chance at life already. It may seem cruel to you, but the overwhelming majority of vampires accept the harshness of the courts as reasonable. Many of them would welcome the opportunity to be slain, and in fact commit crimes solely to get executed."

"Mm," Gregory said. It sounded like he might think that Edgeworth was _biased_. "Well, I hate to say it, but what's done is done. Ms. Skye is gone."

"Mr. Gregory, what am I going to tell Ema?" Phoenix said in despair.

"Nothing," Edgeworth cut across him. "Lana chose to have Ema notified of her death when she was turned; she thought it would be easier on her. Only Jake Marshall, Franziska and Eva, and myself knew that she was… still around."

"Your detective friend was very surprised," Gregory said to Edgeworth, "anyway, I believe we had something to talk about…"

* * *

 **Church grim (from England and Scandinavia), moddey dhoo (from the Isle of Man), Dip (from Catalonia), Barghest (from Yorkshire), gwyllgi (from Wales), Old Shuck (from East Anglia), waheela (from Canada), hellhound (from Christian folklore), and bear dog (lived during the Pleistocene epoch) are all large black dogs. Many of them are omens of death. An akhlut is an Inuit orca spirit that turns into a wolf when out of water.**

 **Vampires turning into dust is taken from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but the bones remain because history.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm still on the first part of chapter six for this fic and have barely started work on the next Janaverse fic - I haven't even begun Ivy Blues yet, ugh. Most of what I've been doing is working on my askblog. At least that updates daily now? I'm surprised how popular it is... (read: I have almost forty followers! Not bad for an Idiot/Brothers Karamazov/Demons post-canon crossover genderbend AU!)**

* * *

 _March 2, 12:55 AM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby B-3_

"We _do_ have something to talk about," Edgeworth said testily. (Phoenix wondered if he should leave, but decided that drawing attention to himself by doing something other than just passively standing there would be even more awkward.) "Why are you still alive?"

"Miles, there's something I didn't tell you when I was… before Manfred von Karma 'murdered' me," Gregory said evenly. "Do you remember your mother?"

"My mother?" Edgeworth said, taken aback, "what does she-"

"Do you remember anything about her, anything at all?"

"No, I was too young… when she died. And you never talked about her…"

Gregory looked down slightly. "I… did that for a reason. Not long after you born, my wife, your mother, was turned into a vampire - I don't know by whom. It's possible that they were never caught… but that's entirely beside the point. The point is that a few weeks later, she also changed me into a vampire. She planned on changing you as well once you had gone through a normal, human childhood."

"But… but why, Father?" His voice was surprisingly soft, shaky.

"She just wanted our family to be together forever," Gregory said, turning aside. "Unfortunately… I naïvely told the vampire hunter that came to me - Manfred von Karma, incidentally-" Phoenix raised his eyebrows. "-that it had been my wife who turned me. No one ever told me that vampires get slain if found guilty of turning."

"And if you had known?" Edgeworth said.

"I would have said that I didn't remember anything and I would have destroyed any evidence that existed."

"You… would lie?"

Gregory looked Edgeworth directly in the eyes. "I would. For our family."

Edgeworth was the first to break eye contact, scowling at the ground. "So… my mother was slain."

"Yes," Gregory said quietly, "and I decided to keep living exactly as I did before so that you could have the normal human childhood that your mother and I wanted to give you. I was very careful to conceal my vampirism from you."

"Would you have turned me when I… graduated high school, I suppose?"

"I would have given you a choice." He looked away again. "Right now, Miles, and for the past 25 years, I've been pushing the von Karma family for a change in the legislation governing us. I want them to allow turnings that have the consent of the victim. I've even proposed a license for it, rather like a marriage license, I suppose…"

"Nevermind that," Edgeworth snapped suddenly, then backed down. "What about DL-6, Father? What happened there? I was always told that bullets won't hurt a vampire."

Gregory sighed deeply. "They can if they strike the heart directly," he explained, "that day, in that elevator, I was wounded badly enough that I was in a coma for almost a month. And for us vampires, Miles, a coma - or any kind of sleep - is indistinguishable from a human's death. I was issued a death certificate, since I didn't get one when I was turned like most vampires do, and your aunt, who never knew I was a vampire, arranged and hosted a funeral."

"And did nothing else," Edgeworth muttered bitterly.

"I'm sorry, Miles. I was officially dead and I had no way to come back to you. I didn't even realize that von Karma had intentionally shot me in the only place where it could hurt me. For fifteen years, I honestly that you… had, purely on accident, Miles…" he trailed off and looked at Phoenix for the first time since this conversation started. He gave him a kind smile - the one that Phoenix remembered seeing a zillion times back in fourth grade - and turned back to Edgeworth. "I'm so sorry, Miles. I couldn't even keep an eye on you after you went with the von Karmas. Even if I didn't know what Manfred had done to me, I did know that he would gladly take any pretense to slay me. So all I could do was hope that you would be…"

"I _wasn't!_ " Edgeworth burst out, throwing his arms up, "Father, it was _horrible!_ Do you have any idea what he - what _I became_ because of Manfred von Karma? Because of _you!_ And you could have - I don't care if you're a vampire. You're alive! You were alive, and I was - was the Demon Prosecutor, and you didn't even _care!_ "

Gregory didn't respond, just stood there and let Edgeworth yell at him. Phoenix took a step back. Finally, Edgeworth calmed down, or at least stopped yelling. He was making kind of choked little gasps, dry sobs, and Phoenix realized that if vampires didn't need to blink, then it followed that they couldn't even cry.

"After everything I… you were alive this whole time…"

"No," Gregory said softly, "I wasn't alive. And I'm sorry that you're now in the same state I am. All I wanted was for you to have the human life your mother and I gave so much to give you."

Still not sure that being human was so great compared to being a vampire (maybe that was just one of those things that he just didn't understand), Phoenix turned away as Edgeworth and his father embraced. It was a touching moment, really, but the juxtaposition between _Edgeworth_ and _touching moment_ was really too strange for Phoenix to want to look directly at it. He'd seen Edgeworth unguarded before, on a few separate occasions, but this… well, it really didn't seem his place to watch it.

* * *

 _March 2, 2:15 AM, Los Angeles_

"…I'm sorry you had to see that, Wright," Edgeworth said, not taking his eyes off the road.

"No problem," Phoenix said, awkwardly clearing his throat and not moving from where he was looking out the passenger-side window. "I know how much you… how much you loved your dad, and how much his death affected you…" he trailed off. Probably better not to talk about it.

"Mm," Edgeworth said. In the reflection that Phoenix could just see in the window, Edgeworth's lips drew into a tight line. "Maybe I should have just dropped out of human life and let Franziska notify you of my death," he said, so quietly that Phoenix wasn't sure if he was supposed to hear it.

"No way!" Phoenix said, turning around to face him. "Edgeworth, I already thought you died once. Isn't that enough?" There was a stiff silence, and Phoenix cringed, realizing that he'd crossed a line he wasn't supposed to cross. "A-And anyway, I still don't see what's so bad about being a vampire. As long as you don't get executed by the von- by the courts, you get to live forever."

Edgeworth snorted derisively. "Ah, yes, immortality," he said drily, "what every man wants, and what every man is willing to trade his soul to get. Are you really so afraid of death, Wright?"

Phoenix shook his head. "Come on, Edgeworth. That's not what I- that's not why it appeals to me."

"Oh?" Edgeworth still didn't take his eyes off the road. Good driving.

Phoenix leaned back in his seat. "Alright," he said, "let's say that I became a vampire. I'm immortal now. I don't have to worry about getting old, getting sick, randomly dying in an accident… I think that'd be great, but not because I'm afraid to die. Well, afraid for myself, anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Phoenix said, staring up at the ceiling of the car, connecting the tiny pores in it with his eyes, "that if I'm afraid of death then I'm only afraid of what I'd leave behind. What about Ema, Maya, and Pearls? They're all so much younger than me, and women live longer than men anyway, so…" he trailed off for a minute, then started again. "I'd want to take care of them even when they're little old ladies, so that's why I'd want to be immortal… why I'd want to be a vampire." He glanced sideways at Edgeworth. "But more than that, when Mia died… I realized that that was the one thing I'd never want to put anyone through. I don't want someone to be hurt just because I _died_. And…" he cut himself off.

"…and?" Edgeworth prompted.

"And now I'm afraid of you _not_ dying," Phoenix said, watching his expression carefully. "You're immortal now, whether you like it or not. Aren't you going to be lonely?"

Edgeworth was silent and unnaturally still, except for the hands on the steering wheel, for a moment before he scoffed. "You'd throw your humanity away… because you don't want me to be alone."

Phoenix let out a single laugh, conscious of how inappropriate it was. "Well, who needs humanity, anyway? Even if I were a vampire, I'd still be Phoenix Wright."

"Humanity," Edgeworth said contemplatively, mostly to himself. "Wright, what do you think it means to be human?"

Phoenix shrugged. "Being born, dying, and hurting a lot in between. What does it mean to you?" he added, figuring he was supposed to.

Edgeworth was silent again for a moment, then abruptly said, "Lying in the sun."

"Lying in the sun?"

"And dreaming when you sleep," he added, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. "Feeling hot or cold. Eating. Drinking tea. Feeling _alive_ because you know you might die at any moment." He glanced momentarily at Phoenix. "Growing old with the ones you love…" His eyes narrowed slightly. "Running and feeling tired. Treasuring what you have because it's all so temporary. Mingling with other humans. Blushing. _Crying_."

"Point taken," Phoenix mumbled, looking back out the passenger-side window.

Edgeworth sighed deeply. "Do you still want to be immortal?"

"I can do without all that," Phoenix said, leaning his head on his hand. "I just…"

"And if you were immortal, all of your friends would die a long time before you."

"I know," Phoenix said, "but that would just mean that I was with them until the end, Edgeworth. Besides," he added, wanting to look back at him again but deciding against it, "there's one friend who wouldn't die without me."

Edgeworth was silent. And neither of them said anything at all until they pulled up in front of Wright and Co. Law Offices.

"Wright," Edgeworth said suddenly as Phoenix opened the car door.

"Yeah?"

"Did you really mean it? That you'd… trade your humanity, for me?"

"Yeah, Edgeworth. I did."

Edgeworth was silent for a minute, sitting so still that it unnerved Phoenix. (It was because Edgeworth wasn't bothering to breathe at the moment.) Finally, he said, "Wright, would you consider… er, becoming involved in my vampiric life? If you're wanting to become a vampire, that is."

Phoenix half-smiled. "This is you trying to convince me it's a bad idea, right?"

"…"

"Well, um," Phoenix looked up at the law office because he was suddenly sure that any accidental eye contact with Edgeworth would make him blush, "I guess it's kind of up to you. I-I'd want to wait until your dad gets those licenses and, uh, nevermind, I'll explain later." Yeah, he was blushing. "A-And you had something that you wanted to talk to me about anyway, so I guess we'll both talk about this stuff… later."

"I'll call you," Edgeworth said curtly, then shifted gears.

"Goodnight, Edgeworth," Phoenix said, closing the passenger door. Edgeworth sped off without even looking at him. Phoenix stared at the receding taillights and said to himself in his best Edgeworth impersonation, "Goodnight, Wright. …I love you too."

* * *

 _March 5, 11:45 PM, Café Bela_

Phoenix looked around nervously at the decor. It was almost hilariously gothic and was so artfully distressed and had so many reds and blacks that, to the uninitiated, it would seem to be Halloween-themed.

But Phoenix wasn't one of the uninitiated. He knew that this was one of the nicest, cleanest vampire hangouts in Los Angles. Edgeworth had brought him here, and they were at the moment following a particularly pale waiter into a private room in the basement.

When Edgeworth told Phoenix that they were going to a "vampire café", he hadn't really known what to expect. He figured he would probably draw some attention, being human and all, but when they got there he was surprised to see that Café Bela presented itself as a vampire- _themed_ restaurant and welcomed humans. (It was just as well; all over the walls were large signs reminding people to stop by their local Red Cross to donate blood.) In the dining room they had passed through to get to the basement stairs, Phoenix had noticed that most of the patrons were, in fact, human - odd humans, mostly goths and emos and other people whose lives had gone down exactly the wrong path that would lead to them eating at such a nice café at such a late hour - but humans nonetheless.

The basement's decor was more subdued, although still obviously playing up the "vampire" thing. Phoenix half-expected Nosferatu himself to step out of one of the doors with a tray full of blood. In wine glasses.

"How… did you find this place?" Phoenix muttered to Edgeworth as they stepped into one of the private dining rooms. He was a little weirded out by the fact that instead of dining chairs or cushions, there were a pair of dark gray couches. There was also a fireplace, although Phoenix suspected it couldn't be lit by customers.

"Von Karmas know almost every vampire hangout in the city," Edgeworth said with a shrug. "I was introduced to this place as a teenager… and you know, the food they serve their human customers is actually quite good, as I recall." He said the last three words with just a trace of bitterness.

"Eh, I already ate," Phoenix said awkwardly, shrugging.

"I haven't," Edgeworth said drily, "today's one of the days I'm supposed to eat and I can hardly drink blood at work, so…"

"It's fine," Phoenix said, looking evasively to the side.

"But here we can talk without worrying about people hearing us."

"Come on, Maya doesn't eavesdrop. …that often."

Edgeworth rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to make some kind of snarky reply, but was interrupted by the door opening.

"Zir," said the particularly pale waitress from earlier, "I am zorry to zay dat ve've vun out of blood tonight…"

"Really?" Edgeworth said, blinking in surprise.

The waitress gave him an apologetic look. "Ve vere zupposed to have more come in vrom de blood bank ten minute ago, but it vas late, und az it turnz out dat dere vaz a plane cvash upztate tventy minute ago, und many ov de zurvivorz needed tranzfuzion…"

"That's awful!" Phoenix exclaimed, "were there any casualties?"

"No, I don't dink zo," the waitress said brightly. "Ve apologize vor de inconvenienze, zir."

"What am I supposed to do now?" Edgeworth groaned to himself.

"Vell, zir, I zee dat you have bvought a human vith you…" Edgeworth glared at her. She gave a professional, pointy smile, said, "You paid vor uze ov dis voom, zo you may uze it, zir," and left.

"…well," Phoenix said after a very long silence, "that… that was random."

Edgeworth rubbed his temples in an 'I have a headache' gesture, and Phoenix wondered if he _literally_ had one or if vampires no longer got things like headaches. "Absolutely fantastic," he muttered sourly.

"At least no one was killed."

"Yes, that's good, of course," Edgeworth said, opening his eyes again, "but this means that I won't be able to eat until the day after tomorrow at the earliest." He sighed deeply. "I'm sure I can hold out until then…"

"What happens if you go too long without eating? Besides starving, I mean."

"A vampire cannot literally starve to death, but they will experience all the other symptoms associated with it. Theoretically, they - _we_ could end up in a hellish state where we're too weak to find food, but unable to enjoy the mercies of death."

"Oof," Phoenix said.

"…although it would take a very long time to get to that state, so it's rather unlikely. Practically speaking, the worst thing is that it becomes much more difficult to exercise self-control around humans."

"So you might, like, go crazy and attack someone?"

Edgeworth gave him a very judgey look. "I wouldn't go that far. But…"

"…but it can't be great to be strained like that when your job involves working with the public," Phoenix said, "and bloody crime scenes, also."

"Don't talk about blood right now," Edgeworth said, burying his face in his hands. "Let's just talk about-"

"You could drink my blood. I don't mind."

There was a very long pause. Phoenix started to regret saying that (or rather giving into the impulse to say that) when he saw Edgeworth's jaw working.

"Wright…" he said slowly, raising his face. "You- what."

"Um."

"…do you have _any_ idea what kind of connotation drinking blood _directly_ from a human has?"

"Uh… no homo?"

Edgeworth just stared at him.

"Just think of it like I'm offering to make you a sandwich because you skipped lunch," Phoenix said defensively. He wasn't blushing, was he? Who was he kidding.

Edgeworth looked at him uneasily. "Are you serious, Wright?"

"Look, are you going to take me up on my offer or not? It's not like anyone would know or - and it beats waiting until the Red Cross has some spare blood again." He pounded one fist against his chest. "I'm alive and healthy, Edgeworth! I'll just make more blood!"

"I get it, I get it," Edgeworth said with an embarrassed grimace. Phoenix felt somewhat vindicated to think that _he_ would be blushing as well if only his blood actually flowed. "Alright, just… just a half-pint. W-Where should I bite?"

 _Why are you posing that question to me?_ Phoenix asked silently. "Uh, what's …traditional? Neck?"

"You wouldn't have to roll up your sleeves or take off your shirt that way, I suppose."

"Yeah, just loosen my tie a bit," Phoenix said lightly, doing just that. He also undid the first two buttons of his shirt.

Edgeworth was staring, which made Phoenix feel oddly successful. "…you have surprisingly prominent collarbones, Wright."

"This is already weird enough without you making comments like that."

"This was _your_ idea."

"Y-Yeah, um," Phoenix said, looking a bit away and tugging at his collar, "just… well, go ahead."

Edgeworth hesitated. "Let me know if you start feeling lightheaded or-"

"Just do it, Edgeworth." _Before I change my mind._

Edgeworth awkwardly scooted closer, awkwardly leaned over Phoenix (awkwardly positioning his arms to support himself while making sure he wasn't actually _touching_ Phoenix), and awkwardly pressed his mouth to the side of Phoenix's neck, just over the carotid artery. Phoenix's breath hitched involuntary. His lips… they were cold, as expected, but they were also soft and dry and the inside of his mouth was just wet enough that Phoenix could feel the moisture on his skin as Edgeworth's breath - he was apparently still keeping up his breathing habit - whispered over his skin like a cool breeze on a summer's day, except less poetic and more…

 _Painful_ , Phoenix thought, gritting his teeth as Edgeworth's fangs punctured his blood vessel. _Ow, ow, ow… do it for Edgeworth… ow…_ He tried to relax a little bit, shifting under Edgeworth, and while that did help with the pain (actually, a lot more than he thought it would) it not only caused Edgeworth to spill a line of warm blood down Phoenix's neck, but also put their bodies in _really_ close proximity. If Phoenix could have spared the blood, he probably would have been commie-colored by now.

He was starting to get a little dizzy now, but he was sure he could take a little more (after all, he'd given blood before, so he knew about how much he could stand), so he stayed quiet. Well, quiet sort of. That tiny little moan just now must have come from him, after all. On accident. Had Edgeworth heard? Darn… even if he didn't hear, he probably noticed the fingers that Phoenix had tangled in his hair. That was… a little more obvious. And just as intentional.

Phoenix was sweating now, and his breathing was starting to get a little shallow. He should probably stop but… somehow he didn't want to… maybe because Edgeworth was so close to him…? Maybe Phoenix was just… starved for attention… physical attention, apparently… yes, Edgeworth… okay, now darkness was starting to crowd around the corners of his vision… swarming like static on the TV… it was… starting to… to…. _Oh…_

"Edge… worth…." …

…"-ght?"…

…"W-"…"!"…

… … …

… …

…

….

Phoenix came to with his back on the ground and his feet propped up on the couch. Edgeworth and the pale waitress from earlier were looming over him, and someone had taped what felt like a gauze pad to his neck.

"Zee?" the waitress said, giving Edgeworth a bored-but-still-professionally-friendly look. "I told you dat hiz blood prezzure vas not dat low."

"How do you feel, Wright?" Edgeworth said. For a second Phoenix thought that Edgeworth had chewed up his bottom lip in worry, then remembered, oh yeah, vampire, and that was Phoenix's blood.

"Thirsty," Phoenix said faintly. He tried to smile. Edgeworth's worried expression persisted.

"Going a bit overboard ven dvinking vrom a perzonal donor iz very common," the waitress said, "do not veel bad about it. Zere iz a plate ov cookie und zome juze on ze fireplaze mantel ven he feel up to zitting up, zir."

"Thank you," Edgeworth said to the waitress, who disappeared from Phoenix's field of vision after that.

"Did I pass out?" Phoenix said after a long pause.

"Yes," Edgeworth said, "you should have told me you were starting to get… I shouldn't have… ggnh." Phoenix couldn't tell if he was mad at him or mad at himself. Probably both.

"Sorry," Phoenix said, then attempted to sit up and immediately regretted it. "Ooh, my chest…"

"Just lie down, Wright, I'll bring your drink over to you." Edgeworth stood up and moved to the other side of the room, and it registered with Phoenix for the first time that he was just wearing his vest. Where was- _oh_ , Phoenix thought, looking slightly down. Edgeworth had draped his jacket over Phoenix. _Well, that was nice of him._

"Here," Edgeworth said after a moment, returning and handing Phoenix a half-filled glass of apple juice. Phoenix drank it carefully, trying not to spill. He noticed that his nails were blue.

"So other than me passing out," Phoenix said when his thirst was a bit more slaked, "how did it go?"

"What?"

"What?"

Edgeworth looked cagily to the side. "You… are a reckless idiot who doesn't know his own limits."

"I said _other_ than me passing out, Edgeworth."

Edgeworth coughed. "You taste good. _Very_ … good."

Now _that_ was what he wanted to hear.

* * *

 **Hope y'all enjoyed the awkward fanservice feeding scene. ;)**

 **Café Bela is a reference to Béla Lugosi, who played lots of vampires in old movies. The waitress has an atrocious accent as a shout-out to Bram Stoker, who also wrote atrocious accents.**

 **Also, all of Phoenix's blood-loss symptoms are accurate to real life, as is how Edgeworth and the waitress treat him/perform first aid. PSA.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Mihoshi 2.0: Yeah, you're not supposed to have all the symptoms that Phoenix had after giving blood. Edgeworth took far more blood than the Red Cross does. That being said, I totally commend you for donating blood! I wrote this fic partially because I want to encourage people to give blood - I can't do it myself due to low blood pressure/underweightedness/suspected anemia. So, other readers: contact your local Red Cross! Every donation saves roughly three lives! Or feeds a hungry vampire. ;)**

 **And yes, that was technically Edgeworth's first feeding, although if I have my timeline correct (note: author notes are written when the chapter is uploaded, not written, so sometimes I brainfart) he's drank from blood packs before.**

* * *

 _March 6, 1:00 AM, Los Angeles_

Edgeworth sighed for what had to be the hundredth time since they left Café Bela.

"Stop that," Phoenix groaned, "you don't even need to breathe. Why do you keep sighing?"

"You know perfectly well why," Edgeworth said testily.

"Hey, it was my idea."

"And now your seat is reclined all the way back and you're almost as pale as I am."

"Only a piece of chalk is as pale as you are, Edgeworth."

Silence fell over the car. There was only the sound of the wheels over the road.

"Maya's going to kill me," Edgeworth said abruptly.

Phoenix rolled his eyes. "No she's not," he said, "she won't even know you're the reason my neck is bandaged."

"She'll put two and two together eventually," Edgeworth said, taking his eyes away from the road just long enough to give Phoenix a brief glare. "I really don't think she'll approve of me sucking your blood, Wright."

"Nah, maybe she'll think it's cool or romantic or something." Phoenix let out a hollow laugh. His chest still kind of hurt.

"In that case, _Pearls_ will kill me."

"Don't you already know enough vampire slayers?"

Silence fell over the car again, longer this time.

"So what, Edgeworth?" Phoenix said at length.

"What?"

"Is this the part where you start saying things like, 'Oh, I'm a monster,' and 'Stay away from me, for your own good'?"

Edgeworth snorted. "Joke all you want, Wright, but if my self-control were any poorer you'd have been drained dry in the basement of Café Bela."

"Point: the more the vampire says that sort of thing to the main character, the more likely it is that they'll end up turning them at the end of the book."

"Shut up, Wright."

Phoenix un-reclined his seat, sighing. They were almost to his office/apartment. "It wasn't that bad. Honestly, I wasn't in any danger, alright? No need to beat yourself up over it."

"I'm not, I'm just… concerned."

"I'm hardier than I look."

"I know that."

"And you can drink my blood any time, Edgeworth." _That sounded weird…_

"…I know, Wright. Blood-packs are safer, though. I'll stick to those."

"Well, if you ever need me…"

"I know."

"…or if you ever want something tastier-"

"I _know_ , Wright." Edgeworth sighed again, but it was irritated instead of morose this time. Progress!

Edgeworth pulled up at the curb in front of Wright and Co. Law Offices. "Well, thanks for tonight," Phoenix said, unbuckling.

"Shut up."

"Call me."

Edgeworth drove off as soon as Phoenix shut the passenger side door. Phoenix watched his taillights vanish into the night (or rather, stop at a stop sign despite being the only car around, then turn and be blocked from view by some buildings), then mounted the stairs to the office. He had to be quiet, since the lights weren't still on… Maya and Pearls were probably sound asleep in the guest bedroom by now-

"Halt, evildoer! Who goes there!"

"Halt, Mr. Nick!"

And Phoenix was hit in the face and stomach with two respective handfuls of popcorn.

"It's one in the morning!" Phoenix said, brushing some kernels out of his hair.

"Technically it's one- _thirty_ ," Maya said, "Steel Samurai all-nighter! Join us, Nick!"

"No way," Phoenix said, "and Pearls, you really shouldn't be up this late. Go to bed."

"Aww," Pearls said, looking down, "but Mystic Maya is…"

"-going to bed right after she cleans up this mess," Phoenix said sternly. Pearls nodded and shuffled off to bed, yawning. _Man, she really_ was _tired!_

"So?" Maya said, grinning, as soon as Pearls was gone, "how was your date with Edgeworth?"

"It wasn't a date, Maya."

"Sure, whatever you say, Nick." She raised her eyebrows. "What's up with the bandage on your neck? You hurt yourself?"

"Something like that."

"Wait, don't tell me - Edgeworth's secretly a vampire, and he was totally drinking your blood. That's what it's from."

Phoenix froze. "W-What?"

"Ha!" Maya said, thrusting a fist up in the air triumphantly, "you didn't accuse me of watching too much Buffy! He really _is_ a vampire!"

Phoenix shifted his weight nervously. Eva _had_ said that Maya knew about the existence of vampires, but… "How did you know about Edgeworth, specifically?"

"What?" Maya said, "oh, I just heard through the grapevine that it was 'someone I knew'. I honestly thought it was Gumshoe for a while there."

"Maya, that's… really ridiculous."

"I guess it is, now that I think about it. Edgeworth is totally vampire material."

"I dunno," Phoenix said, shrugging out of his jacket and hanging it up, "I mean, I think he's adapting to the 'prosecutor by day, vampire by night' lifestyle pretty well, but he really hates it."

"Oh, did he give you the 'I'm dangerous, keep away' speech?" Maya said, scraping popcorn off the couch and into a mostly-empty bowl.

"Pretty much."

"That kind of sucks. No pun intended."

"But I don't think he's going to follow the 'keep away' part."

Maya snorted, dumping the bowl's contents in the trash. "Typical. How come?"

Phoenix shrugged awkwardly, searching the fridge for something to drink. Grape juice? No, the Red Cross people had that on their 'absolutely not' list. "I kind of expressed interest in becoming a vampire a while ago."

"You didn't!" Maya said, half-laughing.

"I just said it would be cool and that, well, immortality could have its uses." He picked up a can of coffee. _Probably not a good idea at this time of night_ , he thought, putting it back. "Anyway, sometimes he'll bring me along on vampire stuff because he's trying to dissuade me."

"And how's that going?" Maya said, returning to the office/TV room to fix the cushions on the couch. "Is LA's underground vampire society really as bad as he apparently thinks it is?"

"It's not that I don't see the downsides to being a vampire," Phoenix said, settling on a glass of V8. "But it still seems to me that there are more upsides. Plus the vampire community's kind of… interesting."

"Interesting."

"Well, they're vampires."

"Duh, Nick."

"And Edgeworth's dad is a vampire."

Maya's eyes widened. "No way!"

"Yes way," Phoenix said, and then related the events of and after Lana Skye's trial.

"…I see," Maya said thoughtfully when he was done.

"It's pretty crazy."

Maya shrugged. "I dunno. I only think it's crazy 'cuz it involves people we know."

"Whatever, Maya," Phoenix said, taking a sip of his V8. "But, you know… hypothetically speaking, what would you do if I became a vampire?"

Maya put her hand to her chin in thought. "I have no idea," she said after a while. "I guess it'd be pretty weird that I'd get older and you wouldn't, but at least I wouldn't have to worry about you dying on me!"

"See," Phoenix said, pointing at her with his cup, "that's exactly what I was thinking. You, and Pearls, and Ema - I'd want to be around for you even when you're little old ladies. I can't do that as a human - as a mortal."

Maya rolled her eyes affectionately. "Only you would want to be a vampire for totally selfless reasons, Nick. Only you."

* * *

 _March 7, 11:00 PM, Lioncourt Library_

"Wright, are you just sleeping during the day?" Edgeworth said.

"Maybe."

"Don't you have any clients right now?"

"…no," Phoenix said, looking around the library instead. Well, "library". It had books and stuff, but really just another vampire hangout. And this time, it _did_ seem a little weird that Phoenix was here as a human. Nice place other than that, though.

Edgeworth gave him a slightly confused look. "How are you paying rent on your office?"

"A _very_ understanding landlord."

"Oh?"

"Also, tenants get discounts for not reporting fire code violations."

"Oh."

Phoenix shrugged. "Clients always find their way to me somehow. And usually I get paid, too."

"…usually."

Phoenix counted off on his fingers. "Larry didn't pay me; Maya didn't pay me but now she works for me, sort of; Global Studios paid for Will Powers' defense; you paid me, and then some; Lana - rest her soul - paid me; the Fey family paid me, plus some backpay from Maya's trial the year before; Maggey paid me for the Dustin Prince murder, but not very much; the Big Berry Circus paid me for Max Galactica's defense; Global Studios paid me a _lot_ for Matt Engarde's defense, probably because they thought I might sue over the whole kidnapping thing; the DeLites paid me, but only for one trial instead of both of them; Maggey couldn't afford to pay me for the Glen Elg murder; and the Fey family paid me for Iris' defense."

Edgeworth blinked. "Maybe you should work out compensation before you take clients, Wright."

"Honestly, I'm fine with working pro bono," Phoenix said, "since the whole reason I became a lawyer was to, well… help people."

"Mm. Well, if you're ever unable to pay the bills, you could always ask me for help."

"Yeah, whatever, rich guy," Phoenix smiled.

Edgeworth rolled his eyes. "Just because I'm more successful than you, Wright…"

"Hey, I've got a pretty good track record," Phoenix said with a comical pout, "I'm just too nice for my own good, you know? Besides, I don't have to sit here and take your mockery if I don't want to."

"As if I brought you here to mock you."

"What did you bring me here for, then? Still trying to convince me that vampirism is not a wise lifestyle choice?"

"Well, that, and the fact that I need to tell you about-" Suddenly there was a cacophony of barking and howling sweeping down the street; it could be heard even from in the library. "…I didn't know there were so many dogs in this area," Edgeworth commented as the yapping grew louder.

"Maybe there's a cat running down the street."

Or maybe not. A dog had run up to what sounded like the front entrance to Lioncourt Library, barking so loudly and deeply it could have been mistaken for an anti-aircraft artillery. Phoenix turned around just as the library door crashed open and a Pesanta bounded in and bowled over both him and Edgeworth, still barking thunderously.

"Wh- Phoenix!" Edgeworth said, shocked, as Phoenix-the-wolf slobbered all over him.

"Can't… breathe…" Phoenix muttered, trying to wriggle out from under Phoenix-the-wolf's claw-tipped paws.

"Please, this is a library!" a bloodless man with box braids and a pince-nez came running over and tried to shoo Phoenix-the-wolf out. "Who owns this dog!?"

"Sorry, Mr. Zadzoe!" Heidi von Karma yelled, running in, then snapping her fingers a couple times. "Phoenix! Fuß, fuß! Aus!"

Phoenix-the-wolf snorted, then backed off towards Heidi, finally allowing Phoenix and Edgeworth to sit up. "What the heck?" Phoenix said as Phoenix-the-wolf sat next to Heidi, turning his big spiky head to look at the door to the library.

"I can explain!" Heidi said at the same time Mr. Zadzoe, the librarian, protested, "Pets are _not_ allowed in the library!"

"Heidi, what's going on?" Edgeworth said, standing up and brushing a few stray dog hairs off his pants.

"Uncle Miles, you've gotta run!" Heidi said, "you've been implicated in a turning! Mama's on her way!"

"What-?!" But neither Edgeworth nor Phoenix got to finish their exclamation, the door to the library was being kicked open again. ("That door is _antique_ , you philistines!" Zadzoe wailed.)

" _Miles!_ " Eva shouted, standing in the entrance with her feet squarely apart and her fists firmly on her hips. "You have a lot of explaining to do!"

"I've been implicated in a turning?" Edgeworth asked calmly.

"I don't want to believe it, either," Eva said, glaring at him, "but we've found some pretty solid evidence against you."

"You're arresting him?" Phoenix said. Everything had been so normal five minutes ago! …relatively speaking.

Eva side-eyed him. "What else am I supposed to do? The law must be upheld." She turned her stinkeye towards her daughter. "No matter _who_ the apparent culprit is related to."

Heidi scraped her toe against the hardwood floor. "Sorry I told you to run for it, Uncle Miles…"

 _Why are you apologizing to him?_ Phoenix thought. Edgeworth's brow furrowed, so he might have been thinking along the same lines. "It's… fine," he said, "Wright, can you please contact my father about this?"

"Uh," Phoenix started, "where-"

"I can take you!" Heidi said, raising her hand eagerly, "I know where he lives!"

* * *

 _March 8, 12:00 AM, Ossenfelder Funeral Home/Condominiums_

"Okay, that's normal," Phoenix said, looking at the entrance.

"What?" Heidi said, "the funeral home is on the bottom floor, and they sell condos on the upper floors. What's weird about that?" She pushed open the unlocked glass door and walked in. Phoenix (and Phoenix-the-wolf) followed her. "Hi, Mrs. Ruthven!"

The sunglasses-wearing old woman at the front desk looked up. "I smell a dhampir and a doggy," she said, "Young Miss von Karma, is that you?"

"Yep," Heidi said, peering over the desk. Ruthven grinned widely, showing pointed fangs. That probably explained the night shift - although she must have been old and blind before being turned. Unless vampires could go blind? An injury would probably do it, Phoenix thought.

"I take it you're not here to visit the soon-to-be-interred dead, then," Ruthven said, then turned her head towards Phoenix, and inhaled a few times. "Funny, usually that's what humans are here for."

"Well, it is midnight," Phoenix said.

"This is Phoenix Wright," Heidi said, "he's Uncle Miles' friend. We're here to see Mr. Gregory."

Ruthven nodded. "Alright, Young Miss von Karma, Mr. Wright," she said, and pointed a surprisingly strong-looking hand towards the door on the right, "the stairs are in there. Go up to the third floor, then look for room number 4399."

"I know, I know," Heidi chirped, and trotted off towards the door. "C'mon, Phoenix, Mr. Wright!"

"Do you know Mrs. Ruthven?" Phoenix asked as they climbed the stairs.

"Mm-hm!" Heidi answered, "she used to work for the von Karma family when my grandpa was a little boy!"

"Oh," Phoenix said, "that must have been a while ago."

"Yep. She got turned into a vampire around when my mom was born, though."

"So she was an old lady back then?"

Heidi rolled her eyes, and Phoenix-the-wolf barked.

"Was she blind at that point, or…?"

"I don't think so," Heidi said, "I heard that her eyeballs got ripped out of her head, but I don't know who did it."

"Ouch," Phoenix said, wincing.

"She also has a fake foot! But she had that when she was alive. I think she stopped working for our family after that accident, but I'm not sure."

"She seems like a pretty cool lady."

"She's the coolest!" Heidi grinned. "Sometimes she watches me when Mama's out investigating."

"So you come here, or…?" Phoenix said, opening the door to the third floor and looking around.

"Yeah," Heidi said, striding past him. Phoenix-the-wolf headbutted Phoenix forward after her. "Sometimes I have to stay in the lobby where she can hear me, but usually I sit around in her condo and play with Phoenix."

"Don't you have any friends your own age?"

"Umm… not really. Pretty much every vampire in the city is at least a teenager. And I can't really hang out with human children because then they might know about vampires and stuff. Ah, here it is - room 4399!" She knocked on the door, apparently oblivious to the absolute injustice of the concept of a nine-year-old without any friends. Maybe Phoenix should introduce her to Pearls? They were the same age and they both liked dogs, so they might get along… plus Pearls was a Fey, so she might have heard about vampires anyway…

Gregory opened the door. "Oh, Heidi… Phoenix, hello."

"Hi, Mr. Edgeworth!"

"Mr. Gregory, your son's been arrested," Phoenix blurted out. Gregory raised his eyebrows.

"By the von Karmas?" he asked.

Phoenix nodded. "He was implicated in a turning."

"I can take you to the crime scene," Heidi said. Phoenix-the-wolf barked, turned around, trotted a bit down the hallway, and turned around again to stare at Phoenix and Gregory, impatiently thumping his tail against the floor.

"In that case, sorry I can't invite you two in," Gregory said, grabbing his coat and hat. "Although first I'd like to talk to Miles. I can only assume he's been asking about the details of the crime he's accused of."

"Where is he right now, anyway?" Phoenix said as Gregory locked his condo door behind him. "Where do vampires go after they're arrested?"

Gregory put his hat on and said, "Kurain Village."

* * *

 **So the "grape juice is on the Red Cross' 'absolutely not' list" joke is all about the fact that you're not supposed to drink alcohol before and after giving blood. Haha. THE MORE YOU KNOW.**

 **Lioncourt Library is named after Anne Rice's vampire character Lestat de Lioncourt.**

 **A** **Pesanta is a mythological large black dog** **from Catalonia. A pince-nez is a style of glasses popular in the nineteenth century.** **Zãdzóe** **means 'firefly' in Ewe; Ewe vampires - adzes - turn into fireflies. "** **Fuß, fuß! Aus!" means "Heel, heel! Let go!" - Heidi is commanding Phoenix in German.**

 **Ossenfelder Funeral Home/Condominiums is named after Heinrich August Ossenfelder, author of the 1748 poem "Der Vampir".** **Mrs. Ruthven is named after Lord Ruthven, antihero vampire, from John Polidori's "The Vampyre".**

 **4399 is actually Chinese numerology: 4 means death, 3 means life, and 99 means eternity. (This isn't the first time I've had the room number be some kind of in-joke: in T-Minus Turnabout, Clay and Apollo's room number, 281, is Houston's area code; Badriyyah's room number, 102, is after NASA's ISS assembly flight 5A.1, STS-102. In Turnabout Timewarp, Watson's room number, 2812, is SL-9 converted into numbers using the same method as like a jillion puzzles in 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors.)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry this took so long. I wanted to make sure that chapter six was done before I uploaded chapter seven. Again, the system I'm going with right now is writing the whole fic before I even upload the first chapter... but I suppose making sure I have a buffer chapter works, too.**

 **Can't tell you when I'll complete chapter seven and upload chapter six. I do want to get the next Janaverse fic published by the end of the year, though. It might end up in the same situation as this fic... ah...**

* * *

 _March 8, 2:00 AM, Los Angeles-Kurain Village Train_

"So, why Kurain Village?" Phoenix asked, "it's pretty far away."

"That's because that's where the spirit channelers live!" Heidi said. (Phoenix still couldn't believe she had been allowed to take Phoenix-the-wolf on the train with her. Heck, he couldn't believe she had been _allowed_ to board the train in the company of two adult men when she was clearly related to _neither_ of them - at almost one in the morning! Or, well… this _was_ California…)

"If a detained vampire attempts to escape, then there's no worse place to do it," Gregory said, "since the Feys will immediately know about it. Then all it takes is one girl to channel the vampire, and then they're trapped."

"So I take it they can't use any of their powers or whatever while being channeled?" Phoenix said.

"In theory, they could still be able to hypnotize someone," Gregory said, "but it's never happened before."

"You'd have to be pretty skilled to hypnotize someone using someone else's eyes," Heidi said. Phoenix-the-wolf thumped his tail on the floor.

There was a lull in conversation.

"Lana was hypnotized, wasn't she?" Phoenix asked abruptly.

"I believe so," Gregory said.

Phoenix shifted in his seat. "Why would you hypnotize someone to turn someone, though?"

"Because it's almost impossible to figure out who hypnotized the victim."

"'Almost' impossible?" said Heidi, "does that mean there _is_ a way?"

"It's… difficult," Gregory sighed. (Phoenix wondered how long you'd have to be a vampire before you dropped little human tics like that.) "and it honestly depends on what the hypnotist's commands were." He stroked his chin in thought. "Let's use an example, Heidi. Let's say that I hypnotized Miles and commanded him to pour Phoenix a cup of tea."

"Alright," Phoenix said. _Although I definitely prefer coffee…_

"If the command was just, 'Go pour Phoenix a cup of tea,' he would do that and then be released from hypnosis. If you asked him then why he gave you tea, he could tell you that he was hypnotized."

"But there's no way to prove that he's telling the truth," Heidi said.

"I'll get to that in a minute," Gregory said, "now, let's say my command was, 'Get some tea for Phoenix, and when you're done, forget why you offered him tea.'"

"When he snaps out of it, he wouldn't know why he got me a drink," Phoenix inferred.

"Yes. However, let's say I came back and - still using hypnosis - commanded him to tell us why he poured a cup of tea for you. He would still answer that he was hypnotized, but it would be like it was his first time hearing it, too."

"But he'd forgotten why he got the tea!" Heidi said, tilting her head.

"Yes and no, Heidi. See, the vampire psyche is nearly identical to the human one, and one of the things that it includes is the subconscious- the point is, you never truly forget anything that happens to you. You can erase something from your conscious memory and be unable to recall or think about it, but under the right conditions, you could still access the memory."

"Does hypnosis affect the subconscious?" Phoenix asked.

"It's debatable," Gregory said, "in my examples, I've been using singular commands, which means that the hypnosis ceases to have effect once the command is executed."

"Even if the command leads to something permanent?" Heidi said. Phoenix-the-wolf whined.

"Yes - even if the result is permanent, after the action itself is completed, the victim would no longer be under hypnosis."

Phoenix paused to process this. "I'm guessing that most hypnosis isn't just singular commands, wearing off once that's done."

"No, it's not," Gregory said, "if, to go back to our example, I didn't want anyone to find out why Miles poured you a glass of tea, I would be more likely to command him to get you the tea and then afterwards not tell anyone why he did that."

"Wouldn't he just tell someone that the reason is secret?" Heidi said, "I think everyone would know that he was hypnotized if he just said that."

"Yes, so to be on the safe side, I would command him to also forget the reason he poured the tea."

"So if you later hypnotized him to say why he got the tea, he wouldn't say anything, but unless someone thought to hypnotize him for that in the first place, it wouldn't be suspicious," Phoenix said.

"Exactly."

"Wouldn't it be weird for him not to know the reason why he did something, though?" Heidi said.

"Yes, although with some people you can count on them to supply their own reasons," Gregory said, "Miles is a fairly good example of that. If that hypothetical situation unfolded, he would actually be reasonably likely to convince himself that he was just being a gracious host."

"What if it _wasn't_ someone like Edgeworth, though?" Phoenix said.

"Then another hypnosis technique comes into play, as opposed to command: suggestion."

"Suggestion?" _Metal Gear?_

Gregory nodded. "A hypnotic suggestion will take root in the victim's mind as though it were a fact. So, if I were to want to cover all my bases for this scenario, I would use a threefold strategy: one, a command to pour you some tea. Two: a command to forget that I hypnotized him. And three: a suggestion that the reason why he poured you tea was because you looked thirsty."

"And if you hypnotized him again and commanded him to tell us why he gave Mr. Wright tea?" Heidi said.

"It would depend on how I phrase the command."

"Let's say you said, 'Tell us why you gave Phoenix a cup of tea,'" Phoenix said.

"He would say 'I gave it to him because he looked thirsty,'" Gregory said.

Phoenix rubbed his own chin in thought. "But surely there's another way to phrase it so that he tells the _truth_ , instead of what he's been hypnotized to think is the truth."

Gregory nodded. "For that, I would use a command along the lines of, 'Throw off any hypnotic suggestions you're laboring under, and correct any changes done to your mind via hypnotic command,' and then I would tell him to answer the question."

"You can throw off hypnosis with… more hypnosis?" Heidi said.

"Hypnosis relies mostly on the power of the _victim's_ mind, not the hypnotist's. The hypnotist's job is simply to concentrate that power in the victim's mind."

"Hold it," Phoenix said, "if you can say something like that to someone you think might have been hypnotized… and if you can hypnotize anyone to tell the truth, why don't you just do that in all your trials? Why is that not permissible in court?"

Gregory frowned, heaved a sigh. "Unfortunately, it's because the hypnotist can lie."

"The… hypnotist?" Phoenix and Heidi said at the same time.

"Hypnosis is entirely mental - what you say doesn't actually matter very much. Returning to our example, suppose I told Miles 'Throw off any hypnotic et cetera, and tell us why you gave Phoenix a cup of tea,' but I was _thinking_ , 'Say, "I gave Wright a cup of tea because he looked thirsty."' What do you think he would say?"

"'I gave Wright a cup of tea because he looked thirsty,'" Phoenix guessed.

"Precisely," Gregory said, "so while I can put my clients under hypnosis to ask them important facts about the case that they may have forgotten or been made to forget, I can't use anything they say in court because for all the Judge knows, I'm literally putting words in their mouth."

"I guess that makes sense," Heidi said. Phoenix-the-wolf panted in apparent agreement, tongue lolling out.

"Does your subconscious ever influence your commands?" Phoenix asked, "you know, do they ever say things that are _slightly_ more favorable for them than what actually happened, because deep down, you were hoping that they were innocent?"

Gregory nodded solemnly. "That does happen sometimes. And you can hardly quell hope, even if you need to."

"Oh, so you do hypnotize your clients!" Heidi said.

"It's rare that I do anything besides undo any previous hypnosis that they were under," Gregory said, "and while hypnotizing other vampires to turn someone for you isn't terribly common - feedings that got carried away are by far the most popular way to end up in the defendant's box - if you were hypnotizing someone to commit a crime for you, wouldn't your command include confessing to the crime afterwards?"

"Good point," Phoenix said, "but now I'm wondering why you would hypnotize someone to turn someone for you. What's the point of that?"

"That's what troubles me," Gregory said, looking pensive, "in turnings such as what happened with Ms. Skye, the reason for the turning was expressly the person being turned. For whatever reason, someone wanted that human to become a vampire… and naturally they didn't want to risk being caught out doing it themselves, so they get another vampire to do their dirty work for them."

"So, like… turning a human family member, maybe?" Heidi said.

"That's fairly plausible, and I have seen it before, but keep in mind it takes around 25 years to become somewhat proficient in hypnosis. Usually by that point, the human family member in question is old enough that the vampire has accepted the inevitability of their death."

"What about paying another vampire to do the hypnosis for you?" Phoenix said.

Gregory shook his head. "Remember that the punishment for being involved in a turning is always death - and appeals simply aren't possible. Someone wanting to turn a human would have to be exceedingly careful. So, paying a hypnotist would leave too much of a paper trial - and both the hypnotist and client wouldn't want to be caught by it."

"Plus vampires don't like money as much as humans do," Heidi added, "you can't really pay one to do something."

Phoenix sat back in his seat, exhaling sharply. "So basically," he said, "for some reason, someone really wanted Edgeworth to be a vampire."

"Someone powerful, too," Heidi said, "since they could hypnotize Ms. Skye."

"That's the way it seems," Gregory said, "so I can't help but wonder if this case is related to that. Perhaps the end goal of turning Miles was to set him up to be slain…"

"But if they wanted him dead, why not just command Lana to kill him?" Phoenix said.

"Maybe it is unrelated," Heidi said. Phoenix-the-wolf snorted.

"Next stop, Kurain Village station," crackled over the train car's speakers. "Next stop, Kurain Village station… please wait until the train has come to a complete stop, then exit to your left…"

* * *

 _March 8, 3:10 AM, Kurain Village, Detention Center_

The detention center in Kurain Village looked about how Phoenix expected it to look: like the normal detention center, but with an oriental flair. Which meant no chairs, just zabutons. Which meant everyone had to kneel.

Probably a good thing that Gregory was undead. Otherwise, this would be heck on his knees. Probably. He was, what, in his fifties, technically - even if physically, he was around 24? …dang, Phoenix never realized how old he looked for his age. Er. Alleged age.

Phoenix-the-wolf barked. Edgeworth started.

"Nervous?" Gregory said.

Edgeworth's mouth twitched irritably. "Considering I'm facing execution, I should say so."

"But you didn't do it, right?" Heidi piped up.

"Not to my knowledge," Edgeworth said dryly.

"It's possible you were hypnotized," Phoenix said rather pointlessly.

Gregory stroked his jaw pensively. "How much do you know about the turning, Miles?"

"The victim is Adrian Andrews," he said matter-of-factly, "and she was actually turned the night of the sixth. I'm not sure of the time, exactly - you'll have to ask Eva for that."

"I'm sure Mama will help!" Heidi said, "since you're her little brother!" Phoenix-the-wolf barked again, then panted, thumping his tail against the floor.

"And they have evidence against you?" Gregory said.

"So I've heard," Edgeworth said. "I've also heard it's pretty damning. Security footage seems likely."

"What were you doing at the time of the crime?" Phoenix said, "do you remember?"

"I was at the library all night," Edgeworth said, his brow furrowing, "Mr. Zadzoe should be able to testify to that effect."

"I'll have a talk with him," Gregory said, "but, Miles - look me in the eye."

Edgeworth looked uncomfortably at his own hands, curled into fists in his lap, for a second before complying with his father's instructions.

"Miles, listen to me," Gregory said, his voice taking on a peculiar quality as he looked intensely into Edgeworth's eyes. "Listen to what I say." Phoenix noticed that Edgeworth was sitting disturbingly still - he had stopped breathing. "Obey what I say." Edgeworth's pupils were dilated unnaturally. "Miles, I command you: Throw off any hypnotic suggestions you're laboring under, and correct any changes done to your mind via hypnotic command." There was a brief pause, and then both Edgeworths blinked at the same time.

"Woah," Heidi said quietly, "I've never actually seen someone get hypnotized before…"

"Ghkg…" Edgeworth raised a hand to his head, like he was getting a migraine. (Incidentally, his breathing had not re-started.) "Father, I… I'm confused."

"Do you remember something now?" Phoenix prompted. Edgeworth just grit his teeth.

"It's possible that he was resisting my hypnosis," Gregory said, almost to himself, "I'm afraid I'm not very skilled at it, since I never do complicated commands."

"I remember…" Edgeworth started, "I remembering going to the library - I'm _sure_ I went to the library that night, but I…" His brow-furrowed-ness was rapidly approaching critical mass. "But I also remember… going to Ms. Andrews' apartment building at some point. Although I'm not sure where that is."

"Anything else?" Gregory pressed.

"Perhaps… teeth? Blood…" _So he really did do it…_

"What about before that?" Gregory said, "do you remember being hypnotized in the first place?"

"N-No. I'm not sure I… it feels almost like I - I suppose it feels as though the memory about Ms. Andrews is… not real."

"Not real?" Phoenix said, "like, your hypnotist just planted fake memories of you turning Adrian while under hypnosis?"

"Interesting," Gregory said.

"But wouldn't those memories disappear when Mr. Edgeworth told him to throw off the suggestions?" Heidi said.

"In theory," Gregory said slowly. "It's possible, too, that I made a mistake…"

Edgeworth shook his head. "This hypnosis thing is far too unreliable, Father. That's exactly why they don't allow it in court." He sat up a little straighter. "Now, you have my alibi, and you have my assurance that I'm innocent. Your time would be much better spent talking to Eva or Ms. Andrews, or investigating the crime scene."

Phoenix-the-wolf jumped up and trotted out the door, tail wagging. "Hey, Phoenix!" Heidi cried, jogging off after him.

"Do you know when the trial is, Miles?" Gregory said.

"The night of the ninth."

Gregory nodded. "Alright. It'll be sunrise by the time we get back to Los Angeles, but at least this gives me a night to investigate."

Edgeworth nodded the same nod. "You'd better get going now, then."

"I'll try to visit you again tonight." Gregory left the room as well. Phoenix stood up to follow him.

"Wright, one thing."

"Yeah, Edgeworth?"

"There was something I needed to talk to you about, while we were at the library."

Phoenix half-smiled. "Is it the same thing you've been trying to talk to me about ever since you got turned into a vampire?"

Edgeworth frowned. "It's… something that I wanted to tell you before that, actually."

"Well, go ahead." Phoenix spread his arms slightly. "Before we get interrupted again."

There was a brief pause while Edgeworth stared (or maybe glared) at Phoenix, then he turned his head away abruptly. "Now's not the time to talk about it, though. You need to go."

"…you brought it up."

"I'll bring it up again later. Go, Wright."

Phoenix rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright." _Stop bringing it up if you keep finding excuses not to say anything, geez! Just spit it out!_ "I'll visit tonight if… I can."

Edgeworth mumbled a goodbye as Phoenix walked out of the room, then the building. Gregory was waiting outside, and Heidi and Phoenix-the-wolf were poking around at something a little up the path.

"Took you a while to say your goodbyes," Gregory said. "Phoenix, if there's one client that I would give _anything_ to make sure he doesn't get slain, it's Miles."

"I know," Phoenix said, "we weren't saying dramatic final farewells or anything. We just… were wrapping up some stuff from earlier. Sort of."

"Mm." Gregory nodded once. "He was very fond of you when you were in fourth grade," he added significantly.

Phoenix felt his face heat up. "Er…" _Does he think that what Edgeworth is trying to tell me is…?_ He was suddenly having the same conversation with himself that he'd been having at the beginning of this little story. He blinked several times, mentally shaking himself. "Mr. Gregory, can I help with Edgeworth's defense?"

Gregory looked at him carefully for half a moment before saying, "I don't see why not. Only it's a little unusual…"

Phoenix shrugged. "Unusual is kind of what I do."

"Well, even in the vampire community, we've heard of your exploits in court. I can only assume you have something unique to contribute. Welcome to the vampire branch of the Edgeworth Law Offices, Phoenix."

"Thanks?" Phoenix said, a little unsure if Gregory was subtly trying to throw shade. Oh well. Shade or not, Edgeworth was _not_ about to get slain on his watch!

* * *

 _March 8, 6:00 AM, Los Angeles Northern Train Station_

"Sunrise is in about ten minutes," Gregory said, squinting at the sky as they stepped off the train. "I'd better go. I was in such a hurry I forgot to grab some sunblock."

"Sunblock?" Phoenix said. Hadn't Edgeworth mentioned something like that?

"Mr. Edgeworth invented sunblock a long time ago so vampires can run around in the sun," Heidi explained helpfully, "but I don't need it because the sun doesn't affect me."

"That… that was you, Mr. Gregory?" Phoenix said, stunned. _"It was invented about 25 years ago by a vampire who happened to have a human son whom he did not wish to abandon upon being turned."_ Well. That certainly lined up.

Gregory waved a hand dismissively as he walked away. "I just improved on something someone else had been working on for a few years. And it's far from perfect, anyway. I'll meet you at Ms. Andrews' apartment tonight."

"Alright, I'll definitely get some sleep in the meantime," Phoenix called back, then turned to Heidi. "You know where Adrian lives, right?"

"I know where _all_ of Mama's crime scenes are," Heidi bragged. "I can take you there right now!"

Phoenix laughed. "No, it's definitely better if we both go home right now. Just give me the address," he said, pulling out a piece of paper and stubby pencil and handing them both to Heidi.

"I don't need to go home," Heidi grumped as she carefully wrote on the paper.

"Don't you need to sleep?"

"No! I'm not human, so I don't need to do something silly like that!" She handed him back the slip of paper.

"Sleep's not silly, it's good for you," Phoenix argued.

"It's good for a human. It doesn't matter for a dhampir!"

"If you say so," Phoenix said. Personally, he thought she might be either misinformed or lying on account of the fact that she was only nine years old. Phoenix-the-wolf whined and nudged Heidi with his snout, and Phoenix took that as confirmation of this fact. "Anyway, let's go catch a cab. I hope your house isn't too far away from my office…"

* * *

 _March 8, 7:00 AM, Wright & Co. Law Offices_

…

… … …

"…why is Mr. Nick sleeping on the couch?"

"Leave him alone, Pearly."

"But he's always sleeping during the day!"

"Yeah, that's because he stays up all night. He's nocturnal now!"

"How irresponsible of him!"

"Nah, he's actually hanging out with Edgeworth."

"But - why is Mr. Edgeworth nocturnal?"

"Haven't you heard? He's totally a vampire."

"Really, Mystic Maya?"

"Uh-huh."

"Oh. Is that why Mr. Nick had a bandage on his neck the other day?"

"Yeah. Please don't kill him."

"Why would I kill him over that?"

"Oh, no reason. Nothing weird going on there. Forget I said anything…"

… … …

… _Thanks, Maya_.

* * *

 _March 8, 6:20 PM, Carmilla_ _Apartments, Room No. 995_

"Phoenix Wright, what are you doing here?" Eva said, although she sounded more surprised than she looked.

"He's helping me with the defense," Gregory said. (Apparently Adrian had given Eva permission to invite people into her home, which was how he got in here.)

"Let me guess: he begged."

"Yes."

"Wait, I wouldn't put it _that_ way," Phoenix protested. "Besides, what did you expect me to do?"

"Leave the far more experienced defense attorney to handle it?" Eva said.

"It's not like I'm leading the defense, I'm just assisting."

"It has been a while since I've had an assistant," Gregory pointed out, then changed the subject. "So, Ms. Andrews' turning…?"

"You want to talk to Adrian Andrews, don't you?" Eva said, crossing her arms. "She's staying with Franziska until she can figure out what to do with herself now that she's a vampire."

"We'll go see her in a bit," Gregory said, "for now, I want to examine the crime scene and ask you about the evidence against Miles."

"Our evidence is pretty solid, unfortunately," Eva said as Phoenix wandered over to check out the rest of Adrian's apartment. It looked like what Phoenix could best describe as 'recovering from OCD': there was a place for everything, and everything was in _a_ place, but usually not the right one. "Your biggest challenge will be explaining away the security footage."

"Security footage?" Gregory said.

Phoenix opened a random door - the bathroom - as Eva said, "Yes, Miles was in the footage from the front of the building. He was in the building between 10:30 and 11:00, which is when we're pretty sure the crime took place." Phoenix opened the mirror cabinet and was fairly unsurprised at a cluttered mess of medicines and miscellaneous first aid stuff.

"I didn't know Adrian was on medication," he commented, rejoining the other two.

Eva twirled her hair-noodle around her finger contemplatively. "She was knocked out for the turning itself," she said, ignoring Phoenix. "We found benzodiazepines in her SRIs."

"Benzo- what?" Phoenix said.

"Short-term sleeping medication," Gregory said, "I assume this is how you figured out what time the turning took place by her dose schedule."

Eva nodded. "She took her pills at around 10:15 every night, and the benzodiazepine should have kicked in in about ten or so minutes."

"When'd she wake up?" Phoenix asked.

"Not sure - after daybreak," Eva said, "the turning took place the night of the sixth, and Franziska was notified right after sundown the night of the seventh. It took Adrian Andrews so long to report her turning because after she woke up, she discovered the hard way that she could no longer go out in the sun."

"Why didn't she just call?" Gregory said.

"She was probably freaking out all day," Phoenix said, "I know Adrian. Sometimes she doesn't handle things getting out of her control very well, and this probably qualifies."

"Ah," Gregory said, "Ms. von Karma, what other evidence is there?"

"A syringe that was used the inject the venom," Eva said, holding up a little evidence baggie. "It has no fingerprints on it, but you have to admit that this level of planning is very Miles-esque."

"Of course, he has no reason to turn Ms. Andrews," Gregory said.

"He has no reason to turn anyone, he hates vampirism," Phoenix blurted out, then shuffled awkwardly when Gregory gave him a concerned look. "Wait a minute- how was Edgeworth supposed to get in here in the first place?"

"Oh," Gregory said, "that's right. Miles told us he didn't even know where Ms. Andrews lived - how was he supposed to have been invited into the room?"

Eva crossed her arms with a hmph. "I can believe that he hadn't been here before, but I don't think you realize that Adrian Andrews and Miles were acquainted, Mr. Edgeworth."

"And I don't think they were _that_ close," Phoenix said.

"All it would have taken is an off-hand comment," Gregory said, "and if you remember from Ms. Skye's trial, permission doesn't have to be re-granted when the invitee turns into a vampire."

"It's possible that Adrian Andrews told Miles, why doesn't he come over for tea sometime? more than a year ago. And while I'm sure neither of them would remember that exchange specifically, I believe it's a plausible enough idea to hold up in court."

"That's not good," Phoenix said.

"Hmm," Gregory hummed, looking around the room in thought. "Ms. von Karma, what about the door? Ms. Andrews was asleep when her assailant entered, was she not?"

"It doesn't _look_ like it was broken down," Phoenix said, walking over and examining the lock.

"It wasn't," Eva said, "we think that Miles might have stolen a key ahead of time."

"That certainly doesn't line up with him never having been to this building before," Gregory muttered.

"Maybe it was like Lana!" Phoenix said, "Eva, has anyone in the building reporting a missing key? Or did Edgeworth happen to have a key on him when he was arrested?"

"…no," Eva said.

"Then maybe he got in by turning into mist!" Phoenix said, then turned to Gregory, "that proves that he was hypnotized, right? He's only been a vampire for a little less than a week, so the only way he could have done that was if he'd be hypnotized by an older vampire!"

"A very good point, Phoenix," Gregory said, "assuming we can prove that there was no other way to get into Ms. Andrews' apartment…"

"So you're going with the theory that he _did_ turn Adrian Andrews, only under hypnosis?" Eva said, with a dangerous edge to her voice.

"That's how it seems to be," Gregory said.

Eva scoffed. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to hypnotize a von Karma? Granted, Miles had a late start, and selective breeding obviously wasn't working in his favor, but he _was_ trained from a young age to resist hypnosis and mind-control."

"That explains it," Gregory said, "but surely he was out of practice."

"You said he was trying to put this side of life behind him," Phoenix reminded Eva.

Eva frowned. "…I still don't think he could have been commanded to undertake such an extreme action."

"And you do think that he would have undertaken such an extreme action of his own free will?" Gregory said.

There was a pregnant pause, then Eva sighed. "No," she said, "even though the evidence points towards Miles being the culprit, I find it hard to believe… no, I'm _sure_ he didn't do it. I suppose your hypnosis hypothesis is the only explanation that makes any sense. …but good luck proving it."

"We're going to," Phoenix stated. "We have to."

Gregory gave him a rather paternal pat on the shoulder. "Calm down, Phoenix."

"I am being calm." He really was.

"Do you have anything else to tell us, Ms. von Karma?"

"Not presently, but you can call me if you think of any other questions, and I'll call you if anything else comes up."

"Thank you. Alright, Phoenix, to Ms. Andrews."

* * *

 _March 8, 9:00 PM, Mansion von Karma_

No wonder Eva had said that Adrian had learned about vampires' weakness to sunlight the hard way. She looked like she had fallen asleep at the beach… a rare enough sight in March, let alone on an Angeleno.

"…so they think it was Mr. Edgeworth who did it?" Adrian said, twisting a stiff doily (a hastily-appropriated substitute for her notebook, Phoenix supposed) in her hands.

"Did you have nothing to say against him?" Gregory said.

"I don't remember anything, Mr… um, Mr. Edgeworth. I was asleep at the time."

"Yeah, but someone had to get into your apartment to spike your medication," Phoenix pointed out, "Do you know anything about that?"

"Someone must have broken into my apartment," Adrian said, clearly trying to steady her voice. "While I was at work."

"That seems like a more logical time to break in than when you're sleeping," Gregory said.

"That gives Edgeworth an alibi, kind of," Phoenix said, grinning confidently. (Adrian seemed to relax a little more because of his smile. That was good.) "You work during the day, right, Adrian?"

"Lately I've been working noon-to-nine," Adrian said, "so I wake up at seven, leave at eleven-thirty, and come back at around 9:45."

"Are you consistent with these times?" Gregory said.

"I don't live very far from Lordly Tailor," Adrian said, "so I've been walking to and from work to stay in shape, thus I don't have to worry about traffic."

"Well," Phoenix said, drumming his fingers on the mahogany coffee table in between the two Baroque couches he and Gregory and Adrian were respectively sitting on, "Edgeworth usually gets in to work around seven and doesn't leave 'til around nine, himself. He also doesn't leave the office unless he's off on an investigation, but I don't think he's done that in the past few weeks."

There was a brief pause.

"How do you know this?" Gregory said.

Phoenix did his best impression of a startled turtle. "Gumshoe told me about it once, he was worried about him - and anyway he doesn't change much, so I'm sure he's still sticking to that schedule… except now he probably doesn't even leave for a half-hour lunch around one."

"We'd have to ask at his office, but it does seem likely that he wouldn't have had the time to break into your apartment," Gregory said, "unless it was done while you were sleeping…"

"Ugh," Adrian said, wringing the doily again.

"And we can't be too sure as to when exactly the benzodiazepines were added to your SRIs."

Phoenix deflated. "Still…"

"…wouldn't they have had to have been added the day of the sixth?" Adrian said.

"What?" Gregory and Phoenix said at the same time.

"Well, if they found benzodiazepines in my SRIs, that means that I didn't take all the pills that had them, right?" Adrian said, "because it would be terrible planning to wait until I took one pill out of sixty or so - especially since there'd be no way to tell if my sleep was normal or drug induced."

"So the benzodiazepines would have had to have been added right before you were turned," Gregory said.

Adrian nodded. "But I take my medication at morning _and_ at night. If they had been added while I was sleeping the night of the fifth, or any night before that…"

"…you would have been knocked out the morning of the sixth!" Phoenix said, slamming his hands on the coffee table. "So they _had_ to have been added while you were at work that day!"

"Which means that Mr. Edgeworth might have an alibi!" Adrian said.

"Unless he had an accomplice," Gregory said.

Another brief pause.

"Stop ruining our theories, Mr. Gregory," Phoenix said.

"I'm only saying what Ms. von Karma will say in court tomorrow."

"Speaking of Franziska, where is she?" Phoenix said, turning back to Adrian.

"She's checking out the security footage from my apartment," Adrian said.

"Can you text her and tell her to- no wait, I have her number," Phoenix said, pulling out his phone. He opened the messaging app and composed a message to Whip Lady _(scared emote) (crying emote)_ : "heyyy franziska, i know you don't REALLY believe that edgeworth would turn adrian of his own free will, so how about you do the defense a favor and figure out if we can prove that edgeworth was at work at the same time adrian was yesterday? please? i know you like to win but YOUR LITTLE BROTHER'S LIFE IS AT STAKE (ha) HERE… also i'll buy you dinner. you can pick the restaurant. thanks."

"How scared of her are you?" Gregory, who had been reading over his shoulder, said.

"Very," Phoenix and Adrian said at the same time.

* * *

 **So, Carmilla Apartments is named after a lesbian vampire written by Sheridan Le Fanu. Hahaha. And room number 995 is once again Chinese numerology, and it means "eternal self" - the soul, basically, is what I was going for.**

 **Eva's hair being referred to as a "hair-noodle" is a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure joke, because I had to reference that at some point. Specifically, Eva's hairstyle is partially modeled after Kakyoin's hairstyle, and a good chunk of the fandom describes his fringe… thing as a hair-noodle. And SRI stands for Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor, which treats depression and/or obsessive-compulsive disorder. I personally think that Adrian has one or both, so… yeah!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Mihoshi 2.0: ;D**

* * *

 _March 9, 11:50 PM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby B-1_

"Wright."

Phoenix turned from where he was going over last-minute defense notes with Gregory and gave Edgeworth a careful look. "Yeah?"

"I…"

"We're gonna get you off the hook today, don't worry. When have I ever let you down?"

"…"

" _And_ we're gonna figure out who really turned Adrian. Somehow." Phoenix paused. "They probably have something to do with who turned you, too. So-"

"Wright, I need to tell you something."

Phoenix blinked. "The same thing you… tried to tell me earlier? You can tell me after the trial."

"I… might not get another chance. If you and Father don't-"

"We're going to."

"But if you don't-"

Phoenix actually reached out and covered Edgeworth's mouth with one hand. (He was marginally surprised that Edgeworth didn't snap at him, or at least take a step back.) "Shut up," he said, "you can tell me after the trial, Edgeworth. I'm not about to let you die again."

There was an uncomfortable silence for about a half minute, then Phoenix lowered his hand. Edgeworth was staring blankly at him, then his eyebrows started working. "Wright…"

Phoenix turned away, suddenly feeling very jittery. "Sorry. But Mia told me once that if you go into a trial acting like you're going to lose… it's bad luck."

"…"

* * *

 _March 10, 12:00 AM, District Court, Courtroom B-1_

"Court is now in session for the trial of Miles Edgeworth," the Judge said.

"The prosecution is ready, your Honor," Franziska said.

"The defense is ready as well, your Honor," Gregory said. Phoenix was standing beside him, and ignoring the stares and whispered comments from the vampire peanut gallery.

"Your opening statement, Ms. von Karma," the Judge said.

"On the night of March sixth, the defendant, Miles Edgeworth, entered the victim's house and turned her, using a syringe, after having spiked her antidepressants with a sleeping drug. A rather simple matter, your honor," Franziska said.

"Do you think she's going to prioritize her pride over someone she considers her brother?" Gregory asked under his breath. Phoenix shrugged. He was pretty sure she wasn't, honestly, but there was _no way_ she was going to give Gregory an easy time of it.

"The prosecution would like to call Eva von Karma to the stand to outline the turning," Franziska said brusquely. Eva took the stand. "Witness, name and occupation, for the record."

"Eva von Karma, gendarme, protector, detective, and executioner for and of the vampire population in Los Angeles and Orange counties."

"Please describe the crime. In excruciating detail," Franziska said, stretching her whip ominously. She wouldn't _seriously_ whip her older sister, though. (…probably.)

"The crime actually started taking place during the day of the sixth, while the victim, Adrian Andrews, was at work. The defendant entered the victim's house and drugged her SRIs."

"I was able to confirm that the defendant did, in fact, leave work the day of the sixth," Franziska said, "during what would normally be his lunchbreak. He informed that scruffy detective that he was going out to buy a book, although ultimately there was no book bought."

"Thanks, Franziska," Phoenix said sardonically.

"Anyway," Eva said, "at this point, it's unclear how he got into the building at that point in time, since he doesn't appear on any of the security footage."

"It's also unclear if he's physically capable of entering Ms. Andrews' apartment," Gregory said.

"He returned to Carmilla Apartments later, sometime after 10:20 PM," Eva smoothly steamrolled over Gregory, and presented the syringe from last night. "Since Adrian Andrews was knocked out from the benzodiazepines, he was free to use this to inject venom into her femoral artery."

Phoenix blinked. "That's the one in the thigh, right?" he said quietly.

Gregory nodded gravely. "I honestly cannot imagine Miles getting that close to a woman's thigh, no matter the circumstances."

"…" _Is he trying to tell me something?_

Eva continued. "Although there are no fingerprints on the syringe, and the defendant's fingerprints are not on the bottle of medication, there is security footage of Miles entering Carmilla Apartments at the time of the crime." She nodded to the bailiff, who rolled a television set out onto the court floor, turned it on, and did the sort of thing with the video/DVD/whatever-the-heck player that Phoenix always made Maya do because it was confuuuusing. The screen showed, as expected, the entrance of the building, with a timestamp in the upper right corner: 22:21:00. Edgeworth walked into the shot, stopped abruptly a few feet in front of the door, paused there for a few seconds, then just as abruptly strode into the building. The bailiff hit a button and fast-forwarded to 22:59:40, when Edgeworth walked back out of the building, this time without halting.

"His movements seem off," Gregory observed.

"I hear you are planning to argue that the defendant did, in fact, commit the turning, only under hypnosis," Franziska said.

"…yes," Gregory said.

Franziska snorted. "I suppose you are going to go back to the 'turning into mist' thing to explain what happened to the key to Adrian Andrews' apartment."

"What, you can't explain away the key?" Phoenix said.

Franziska folded her arms, stonily silent for a second. "While there are multiple copies of the key," she said at length, "the superintendent and the janitor both signed affidavits stating that their duplicate keys and master keys were accounted for at the time. Additionally, Adrian Andrews had her key on her person while she was at work, and there was no opportunity for Miles Edgeworth to steal the key from her personally."

"So how was Miles supposed to get into Ms. Andrews' apartment?" Gregory said.

"We found signs that a lockpick had been used…" Eva started.

"…but we cannot be sure that they are not from an attempted break-in some months ago," Franziska finished.

"It seems like this issue can go either way, then," the Judge commented.

"The prosecution has yet to prove that the defendant is physically capable of entering the victim's house," Gregory said.

"Since the victim and the defendant were previously acquainted, we have no reason to believe that he is not," Franziska said sternly.

"I suppose we should set that aside for now, then," Gregory said, frowning.

Phoenix rubbed his chin in thought. "There should be some other way to prove he was hypnotized, right?" he said.

Gregory nodded. "I did some investigating without you, Phoenix, and I think we may have a witness who could tell us more about Miles' behavior that day. Your Honor?"

"Do you have any more questions for Ms. von Karma?" the Judge said.

"No, your Honor."

"Very well, Mr. Edgeworth, go ahead."

"The defense would like to call Mawuli Zadzoe to the stand."

Eva stepped down, and the librarian from the other night took the stand. He looked slightly nervous, but deliberately dignified.

"Witness, name and occupation," Franziska ordered.

"My name is Mawuli Zadzoe, although I usually go by Kojovi." _What is that, a nickname?_ Phoenix wondered. It certainly didn't sound like his given name… "Or just Mr. Zadzoe. I own and operate Lioncourt Library… where the defendant was arrested."

"The defendant claims that he went to your library the night of the sixth," Gregory said.

"Yes, he did."

"Please elaborate on this."

Zadzoe took a quick glance around the room. "Well," he said, "young Edgeworth was always one of my favorite patrons when he was a teenager - very well-manned and well-read - so naturally when he started coming to my library again in the past week, I took special notice. Meaning that I can confirm that he did, in fact, visit my library on the night of the sixth."

"What time, specifically?" Franziska said.

Zadzoe hesitated. "You know, I don't have a clock in my library… it can make visitors feel as though they're just wasting time reading, and I hate the sound of it ticking."

"Why not just use a digital clock?" Phoenix said.

"…it would ruin the look of the library," Zadzoe sniffed.

"He's also rather old-fashioned," Gregory explained under his breath, "he's rather slow to adopt any technology invented after 1885. He drives a Marquette."

"I have no idea what that means," said Phoenix.

"-and anyway I open and close my library with the setting and rising of the sun," Zadzoe was saying, "so I have no need of a clock."

"Meaning that Miles Edgeworth could have simply stopped by your library either before or after the crime took place," Franziska said.

"Hold it!" Gregory said, "Mr. Zadzoe, how long exactly was the defendant there?"

"Quite a while," Zadzoe said, "he arrived sometime after I opened - a few hours after, I suppose, around eleven or perhaps later - but he stayed until I closed."

"Can you describe his behavior during this time?"

Zadzoe nodded, but didn't say anything for a few moments. Then he said, "I _did_ think he was acting oddly when he first showed up. He walked into the library, and seemed… almost surprised to be there. He didn't respond at first when I greeted him. After I got his attention, though, he started behaving normally again; he greeted me and asked for a book recommendation - _Demons_ by Fyodor Mikhailovitch Dostoyevsky, incidentally, an excellent book that I highly suggest everyone read - and then he took his book and went off to his old corner to read it." He paused. "Not long before I closed, I asked him if he'd gotten to the introduction of Pyotr Verkhovensky yet, since I expected him to get at least that far into the book, but I was surprised to learn that he hadn't… he was still on the marriage proposal…"

"In other words, he seemed extremely distracted," Gregory said.

"Yes, exactly," Zadzoe said, "he almost forgot to take the book with him when he was leaving."

"You could almost say… he was not in a usual state of mind," Gregory said.

"Objection, leading the witness," Franziska said.

"O-" the Judge started, but Zadzoe cut him off.

"He's right, he was definitely not in a usual state of mind. You think that young Edgeworth was hypnotized, don't you, Mr. Edgeworth?"

"It seems like the most likely thing," Phoenix said.

"Well, I'm not sure he was actively under hypnosis while he was at my library," Zadzoe said, "but the more I think about it, the more sure I am that someone used hypnotic suggestion to force him to come to the library in the first place."

Franziska scoffed. "What would the purpose of that be? To establish an alibi? Surely not."

"Perhaps the point of it was to _fail_ to establish an alibi," Gregory said, "after all, having an almost-but-not-quite intentional-looking alibi is often more suspicious than not having an alibi at all."

"Most likely he was commanded to go to the library _after_ the turning, so that it would be extra obvious that he wasn't there _during_ the turning," Phoenix said.

"Except Lioncourt Library has no clocks," Franziska said, "so whether he was there as an actual alibi or a poor attempt at one for whatever reason… this testimony is completely useless."

Zadzoe harrumphed. "I still saw him acting strangely - either because he had been hypnotized or because he was being threatened…"

"Or because he felt guilty," Franziska said, "or because he was faking it because he knew his father would use this defense."

"He certainly didn't seem pleased about us _using_ this defense, though," Phoenix muttered.

"…or perhaps the witness is lying, mistaken, or exaggerating because he is friends with the defendant," Franziska said with a sneer.

"I beg your pardon?!" Zadzoe snapped.

The Judge pounded his gavel. "Ms. von Karma," he said sternly, "you should not accuse witnesses of perjury without any evidence."

"My apologies, your Honor."

"How disrespectful," Zadzoe grumbled, "young lady, need I remind you that you owe me 60¢ in overdue book fines?"

Franziska twitched. "It is not _my_ fault that my niece stole the book I had checked out and returned it nearly two weeks late. And if you do not have anything more relevant to say, Kojovi Zadzoe, I would like to dismiss you right now!"

"Who lets a nine-year-old read _Varney the Vampire_?!"

"The witness is dismissed," the Judge said with a swing of the gavel.

"So we're pretty much back where we started," Phoenix said as Zadzoe stalked off.

"Well, we do have one last-ditch strategy," Gregory said, then raised his voice to address the court: "the defense would, at this time, like to revisit the issue of the defendant having an invitation to the victim's home."

Franziska rolled her eyes. "What do you have to say, Gregory Edgeworth?"

"I propose an experiment."

"…an experiment."

"Yes," Gregory said, "we all go to Carmilla Apartments and see once and for all if my son can enter Ms. Andrews apartment."

Franziska made a face, but the Judge said, "a field trip? Oh, wonderful. Bailiff! Get the van!"

* * *

 _March 10, 2:35 AM, Carmilla Apartments_

This was it. The moment of truth. The door emblazoned with '995 - ANDREWS', already unlocked and opened inwards to the apartment.

"Before we begin," Gregory said, "is this apartment, by virtue of its status as a crime scene, currently considered a public area?"

The bailiff stepped forward and attempted to walk into the room - but it was like there was a barrier instead of a door, and he couldn't actually enter. Phoenix couldn't resist reaching out and giving him a push - it was exactly like pushing someone into a wall. The vampire bailiff literally could not enter Adrian's living room.

"Well," Franziska said as the bailiff returned his spot next to the Judge, "as I do not have permission to invite people into Adrian Andrews' home, I am free to say: go ahead and enter, Miles Edgeworth, if you can."

Edgeworth stepped forward, and hesitated on the threshold. Phoenix became acutely aware that he was holding his breath…

Franziska, impatient as always, whipped Edgeworth's back, causing him to stumble… into the apartment.

Phoenix almost swore out loud. He settled for doing it internally.

"But… you've never visited me or made plans to visit me before," Adrian said, wringing the doily from Franziska's house.

"I suppose my theory that you accidentally invited him with an off-hand comment was correct," Eva said.

Edgeworth sighed deeply, half raising his hands, then dropping them again. "I suppose this is the end of it, then," he said.

"What? No," Phoenix said.

"I have no alibi and you have no evidence that contradicts the prosecution," Edgeworth said. He was refusing to meet either Phoenix's or his father's eyes. "This was the last thing that could have saved me, and it was a long shot, anyway."

"There may still be something…" Eva said, clutching her elbow in thought. Franziska seemed similarly troubled, although Phoenix was sure that she had no intention of actually showing this, even if she did.

"Well," the Judge said after a very long pause, "I am prepared to hand down a verdict as soon as we return to the courtroom."

With the Judge and the bailiff leading, closely followed by an almost-mechanically-moving Franziska, slow-walking Eva, and possibly-on-the-verge-of-tears Adrian, Edgeworth started the gallows march back to the van parked in front of the building. Gregory walked behind him, obviously deep in thought - he had to, he _had_ to come up with an objection before they returned to courthouse. Phoenix brought up the rear, not looking where he was going and instead swinging his head around, hoping to glance something in these hallways that would give him some sort of idea as to how to save Edgeworth.

There had to be something. Anything! Anything at all! It didn't matter what - it didn't matter how small of a chance it may be, he just needed a _chance!_

As they exited the building, they passed by a television that showed the closed-circuit security footage of the front walk. He was struck by the appearance of their little delegation - judge, bailiff, prosecutor, detective, victim, _victim_ , defense attorney, and useless defense attorney's assistant who had once again completely failed Edgeworth and was once again going to lose him only this time it would be permanent, this time it would be _real_ -

And then something else struck him.

" _Hold it!_ " he yelled. "HOLD IT!"

That worked. The others turned around. Gregory actually said, "Did you figure something out, Phoenix?"

"Edgeworth," Phoenix said breathlessly and pointing, "come walk in front of this security camera again. Everyone else, look at that television. Doesn't something seem… weird?"

Everyone did as Phoenix said. Franziska scowled. "What are we supposed to be seeing?"

"He's right, Franziska," Adrian said, blinking, "there is something weird. The footage seems… off."

"But how…?" Gregory murmured.

Eva suddenly snapped her fingers. "His suit," she said, "it's a different color."

Edgeworth's brow furrowed. "This is the same color suit as I was wearing the night of the crime."

"That's what I thought," Phoenix said, "but look - in the security footage from right now, your suit's a different color from the security footage we just viewed at the trial!" He wished he was standing at the defense bench so he could slam his hands on something. "This means the footage we saw was tampered with!"

"Or maybe it is just a difference in monitors," Franziska said, but that unmistakable fire had returned to her eye. "We need to go confirm this. Come - to the security room."

It was fairly difficult to cram everyone into the security room, but they somehow managed to do it without violating fire code, even if they did have to leave the bailiff outside so that they could keep the confused security guard (not Wendy Oldbag, thank God) at his post.

"Pull up the footage from the sixth, 22:21:00 to 22:59:40, on this monitor, and the footage from four minutes ago on that monitor," Franziska ordered. The security guard did so without question. Almost thirty seconds passed in silence.

"Meine Götter," Eva said.

Phoenix was right. Edgeworth's suit was a different color in each shot, even though the lighting appeared exactly the same otherwise.

"But what does this mean?" Gregory said, "obviously the footage was tampered with, but how?"

"A filter," Phoenix blurted out, "someone put a filter over the footage from the sixth."

"A filter…" Eva echoed, "hmm, Miles' suit is noticeably darker in the edited footage. It must have been a filter to make the scene appear darker - meaning that the original footage took place during the day, and needed to be edited to make it appear to have taken place at night." She nodded to herself. "It must be footage from earlier in the day spliced over footage from the time of the crime."

"Play the footage of the sixth, between 12:30:00 and 14:00:00, on fast-forward," Franziska barked. The security guard wisely chose to just do as he was told.

The security footage flicked across the screen, mostly consisting of a static shot of the sidewalk and road in front of the building, often interrupted by a pedestrian or car. "If footage of Miles Edgeworth in front of this building was taken in the first place," Franziska explained, "it must have been when he was dosing Adrian Andrews' SRIs with benzodiazepines - which should have been when he left work to 'go buy a book'."

"You're still assuming Edgeworth planted the benzodiazepines?" Phoenix said.

"That is something he could be plausibly hypnotized into doing," Eva said, "since he wouldn't necessarily be doing something that goes against his convictions."

"Besides breaking into someone's apartment?" Phoenix said.

"…yes, about that, well, he _is_ a prosecutor-"

"Guard, play that bit again," Gregory said suddenly, "13:29:11 to 14:18:30." The guard did so.

"Hey," Phoenix said, leaning forward, "look at that car - it passes by _twice_ during this time span. This must have been edited, too."

"…d-do you want me to recover the unedited footage?" the guard said.

"Can you do that?" the Judge said.

"Sure," the guard said, "looks like t-the edited footage is just layered on over the original f-footage. Not very professional."

"Well, get to it, then!" Franziska said, cracking her whip.

The security room was absolutely silent as the guard clacked away at the keys. Phoenix subtly stepped back to stand next to Edgeworth. "That was close," he muttered.

"We're not done yet," Edgeworth said. There wasn't a trace of emotion to be found in his voice.

"But the worst thing they had against you was that footage - and it was edited."

"And I'm still the only vampire that we know is allowed into Adrian's apartment."

Phoenix grit his teeth. "That's exactly what they killed Lana over, too…"

"G-G-Got it!" the guard said, and played the fixed footage on two monitors.

The first one, 13:39:50 to 14:18:30, while Adrian was at work: the exact footage that had been submitted as evidence in court, only with lighter colors. The replacement footage had just been a looped shot of the empty street in front of the building, with a car passing by copied from 13:29:14 so that it wouldn't look suspiciously empty.

The second one, 22:21:00 to 22:59:40, while Adrian was asleep: an old woman walking up to the building and placing a hand on the door. She drew away after a second, and pulled out her cell phone. She talked on it (although there was no audio) for almost a minute, then put it away. In another two minutes, Adrian walked out the front door and shook hands with the old woman. Hands still clasped, they had a short conversation, then Adrian yawned, and right after they parted ways, with Adrian returning to Carmilla Apartments and the old woman continuing down the sidewalk. The rest of the footage was completely unremarkable.

The room turned as one to Adrian.

"I don't remember this," Adrian said defensively.

"Don't worry, it's perfectly understandable," Eva said, "you had already taken your SRIs by that time, so the benzodiazepines were already kicking in."

"That does explain the yawn," Franziska said, "however, we clearly need to get testimony from this old woman."

"I suppose this trial will carry over another day," the Judge said, "hmm… rather unusual in these courts. I declare today's session adjourned." He left the security room. Franziska, Adrian, and Edgeworth followed, after the bailiff popped his head in the door with an expectant look.

"…what just happened?" the guard said, confused again.

"Nothing," Gregory said, "now, please replay the footage again."

Phoenix paid much closer attention to the old woman this time - fortunately, there was something to _draw_ his attention. "She's kind of limping, isn't she?"

"Yes," Eva said, also scrutinizing the footage, "it's almost like… no, it couldn't be…"

"Do you know who it is?" Gregory pressed.

"I suspect… guard, is it possible to zoom in on this?"

"Uh… a little bit." He zoomed in by as much as he apparently could without completely killing the resolution - about 30%. Phoenix heard a sharp intake of breath from both Eva and Gregory, and a second later realized what it was about.

Mrs. Ruthven. It was Mrs. Ruthven.

* * *

" **Gendarme" does not refer to the French police here, lol. I'm using in the sense of a paramilitary police officer.**

" **Mawuli" is an Ewe name meaning "God exists". "Kojovi" is kind of like a nickname, although it's a little more complicated than that. Basically, the Ewe people believe that a child can't really be properly named until the parents figure out what the kid's personality is like, so when they're born they're just called after the day of the week until they can figure that out, and that name will be pretty much what everyone's gonna call them for the rest of their lives anyway. Of course, you might have more than one kid born on the same day of the week, so there are suffixes used by age… "Kojo-" means he was born on a Monday, and "-vi" means he has (had) at least one older sibling also born on a Monday.  
Side note: Mr. Zadzoe has gotta be my favorite minor character in this fic. :')**

 **A Marquette is a car put out by Buick in 1930.**

 **Also, I'm with Zadzoe on the Demons recommendation. It's soooo good, and soooo obscure! It needs more fans! And if you're here because you love slash, well, hoo boy YOU'RE GONNA LOVE DEMONS. Get the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation, though.**

 **Pyotr Verkhovensky is a character who is introduced (not just mentioned, actually introduced) almost a third of the way into the book. He's also my favorite character. I am trash. And the marriage proposal is a thing that happens a bit earlier than that.**

… **we can count all this as some kind of convoluted reference to fanon sexy vampire prince Nikolay Stavrogin, who was canonically referred to as a bloodsucker at least once. (P.S., despite the title and that comment, Demons is not actually about the supernatural.)**

 **Varney the Vampire is a gothic horror story by** **James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest, published in penny dreadfuls between 1845 and 1847 and published in a 876-paged book in 1847.**

 **Meine Götter = German for "my gods".**


	7. Chapter 7

**Today's your lucky day, EclipseKuran. I happened to finish writing the entire fic (ten chapters!) last night (okay, early this morning), so for the next three chapters, I'll just update whenever someone leaves a review.**

* * *

 _March 10, 5:30 AM, Kurain Village, Detention Center_

"Oh my g- Wright, stop crying."

"Edgeworth, I thought you were going to _die!_ Also, I'm not crying."

"Yes you are. And technically, I _already_ died."

Phoenix glared at Edgeworth, who merely twitched the corner of his mouth down in anxious irritation. "You know what I mean."

He sighed shortly. "Yes." Beat. "It's a good thing you noticed that footage."

Phoenix shrugged. "I had to do _something_. I couldn't-" he cut himself off, slightly embarrassed. "Well, anyway…"

Edgeworth looked down and to the side, one hand nervously clasping his other arm. "I know, Wright. You couldn't just… not after-"

"But we'll be done with this by tomorrow morning," Phoenix blurted out. "I'm still not sure how exactly Adrian got turned, but hey, Mrs. Ruthven's gotta know _something_."

Edgeworth looked back up and spocked an eyebrow. "Mrs. Ruthven?"

"The old lady talking to Adrian." Phoenix sat back slightly. "The only vampire who was around Carmilla Apartments at the time of the crime… kind of suspicious, isn't it?"

"Indeed," Edgeworth said, his brow furrowing. "She's been a servant for the von Karma family as long as I can remember, though. It would be… odd for her to do anything to break vampiric law."

Now Phoenix was raising his eyebrows. "Heidi made it sound like she stopped working for the von Karmas before Eva was born."

"Oh, Heidi wouldn't know," Edgeworth said, "before Eva was born I believe she was either a maid or a nanny, or perhaps a cook. She stopped working in the household itself after the accident where she lost her foot - I'm not certain what exactly happened, but I heard she was hit by hit by car while riding a motorcycle - and a few months later she was turned into a vampire… but she's been in the von Karma family's pay this whole time."

"Doing what?" Phoenix said.

"…I'm not sure. I was never privy to these matters." He frowned. "As far as I can tell, she was just a 'contact' for the von Karmas - a vampire in their pocket. I believe that this was why she had her eyes gouged out, actually."

"She snitched on someone?"

"I assume so." He looked Phoenix dead in the eye. "There are dangerous forces at work in the vampire world, Wright."

Phoenix broke eye contact quickly, and snorted. "Obviously. Someone went really out of their way to frame you. If they'd been just a little more competent with video editing…" he shuddered.

"…yes," Edgeworth said slowly, "I do wonder why I, specifically, was framed. It wasn't just a matter of convenience, since they did - well, they did hypnotize me."

"So you were hypnotized after all, then?"

Edgeworth's eyebrows worked. "It seems that way. Mr. Zadzoe's testimony caused me to remember what exactly I was thinking while I was at the library - I kept thinking that I didn't particularly want to be there and I should have been somewhere else, and I repeatedly decided to get up and leave, but _didn't_ until closing. It was odd…" He blinked. "And Adrian appeared to be a human on the footage taken _after_ I left Carmilla Apartments, even though I remember turning her, sort of. I suppose I was right when I said those memories weren't… real."

"Planted memories, huh," Phoenix said, "oh, what do you mean by Adrian 'appeared to be a human' in the CCTV footage?"

"Vampires don't yawn, Wright."

"…yeah, I guess that's kind of obvious. There's no reason for Adrian to have faked it." He frowned. "What bothers me is the fact that she didn't remember talking to Mrs. Ruthven."

"It could have been the benzodiazepines like Eva said."

"I guess," Phoenix said hesitantly. "This whole situation is just… weird. I mean, we still can't figure out why you were even turned in the first place."

Edgeworth gave Phoenix a very unimpressed look. "What does that have to this?"

"Well, Lana was hypnotized into turning you," Phoenix said, "and you were hypnotized into drugging Adrian's drugs and screwing up your own alibi. It's not the same MO, but it's similar."

"Hypnosis isn't an uncommon MO," Edgeworth said.

"I just think maybe the same person is behind both of them. Maybe not the same hypnotist, but it could be that someone's out there, giving orders," Phoenix said, "someone who hates _you_ in particular."

"I don't recall any particular occasion where I angered a vampire," Edgeworth said dryly, "and I'm not aware of anyone who has any reason to hate me being turned in prison."

"You've got to admit it's one heck of a coincidence," Phoenix said, "that someone would implicate you in Adrian's turning so soon after you were turned yourself."

"Perhaps someone was merely being opportunistic," Edgeworth said, "although it is interesting that, while they apparently wanted me truly dead, they would choose to turn someone completely unrelated and set me up to be slain as punishment, instead of just killing me themselves."

"What, the fact that we still don't know who hypnotized Lana isn't bothering you?" Phoenix said.

"I didn't say it wasn't bothering me. I'd love to know," Edgeworth said darkly, then sat up a little straighter and said more evenly, "at this point, we have nothing to indicate that the two incidents were related."

"I feel it in my gut, Edgeworth."

"Ah, yes," Edgeworth said sarcastically, "you and your amazing, crime-solving gut."

* * *

 _March 10, 10:00 AM, Wright & Co. Law Offices_

Maya stood defiant with her hands on her hips. "Alright Nick, spill," she said, "how'd court go last night? Who turned Adrian Andrews into a vampire?!"

"We don't know yet," Phoenix said, raising his hands, "we might have a lead but Mr. Gregory says Franziska has her stashed away somewhere and he hasn't seen her all day. I don't know what's going on."

Maya huffed, puffing out her cheeks. "Ugh, Franziska! That's her little brother on trial!"

"Well, I think at this point, we're going to get a not guilty even if it turns out Mrs. Ruthven can't tell us anything," Phoenix said, flopping onto the couch and yawning. "I know the Judge doesn't usually go for that reasonable doubt stuff they taught us in law school, but since it's Edgeworth we're talking about, Franziska'll probably just rest if it gets bad enough." He stretched his arms. "They can't actually prove he was at the crime scene when it happened anymore, since the footage was edited."

"Yeah, but," Maya said, putting one hand to her face, "isn't Edgeworth gonna be the only vampire who can actually get into Adrian's apartment?"

Phoenix frowned deeply. "That's exactly why they couldn't let the case against Lana go," he said. "And she was also hypnotized…"

"Sounds related to me."

"That's what I was thinking, yeah. Edgeworth disagrees."

"Well, what does he know?"

Phoenix snorted. "Anyway, I'm sure there was another vampire who got into Adrian's apartment somehow. Or maybe she just wasn't turned in her apartment like we've been assuming - Mrs. Ruthven might be able to shed some light on this."

"I hope so," Maya said, "I don't want Edgeworth to die. That'd be… really bad…"

"Yeah," Phoenix said, his voice softer than he really intended. He cleared his throat. "By the way, where's Pearly?"

"Oh," Maya said, "I hired a tutor to help her with her spelling. She's been going to his house with some other kids and learning stuff during the day."

Phoenix raised his eyebrows. "Really now."

"Don't worry, I asked around about him first," Maya said, "Edgeworth knows him, he's cool."

"Ah, okay."

"His name's, um… Jojo Zadzoe."

"Oh… yeah, he's cool."

* * *

 _March 10, 11:50 PM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby B-1_

"Mr. Gregory, how much do you know about Mrs. Ruthven, anyway?"

Gregory blinked. "Do you suspect her, Phoenix?"

Phoenix shrugged sheepishly. "I don't know. At this point, not really. But I was talking about her with Edgeworth this morning, and…"

Gregory raised his eyebrows. "Edgeworth knows her? Hm. I knew she was somewhat close to Eva, but I didn't think…"

"She used to work in the von Karma house," Phoenix said, "before she was the receptionist at Ossenfelder."

Gregory rubbed his chin. "Yes, I'd heard of that," he said, "I'll admit it is interesting…"

"But it's not really relevant," Edgeworth cut across. "Wright is just grasping at straws, as usual."

"Hey, it's your undead butt on the line here, Edgeworth," Phoenix said.

"He's sure that this case has something to do with my own turning," Edgeworth continued, ignoring Phoenix.

Gregory was silent for a minute, with a kind of blank 'not now, kids, Daddy's busy' expression. "Well," he said neutrally, "we'll see how this turns out."

* * *

 _March 11, 12:00 AM, District Court, Courtroom B-1_

"Court is now once again in session for the trial of Miles Edgeworth."

"The prosecution is ready, your Honor."

"The defense is ready as well, your Honor."

Franziska snapped her whip. "Now, picking up directly where we left off last night," she said, "the prosecution calls Allegra Ruthven to the stand."

Mrs. Ruthven walked calmly up to the stand, her artificial foot dragging slightly and clunking ominously against the floor with every step. Her sunglasses gleamed in the harsh fluorescent light. Phoenix swallowed involuntarily.

"Witness, name and occupation."

"Allegra Ruthven," she said in a clear, almost forceful voice, "I'm the night receptionist at Ossenfelder Funeral Home and Condominiums. Part-time babysitter, too."

"Let's get right to the point, witness," Franziska said coldly, "you were caught on video having a conversation with the victim shortly before she was turned."

Ruthven raised her eyebrows. "I wasn't aware of this."

"The footage was edited out," Gregory said, "it was not corrected until the trial last night."

"Hmm," Ruthven said, "well, it is true that I did have a little conversation with Miss Andrews."

"What? Do I look like a 'miss'?" Phoenix heard Adrian say from the gallery just behind Franziska. Franziska cracked her whip and Adrian shut up.

"What did you talk about?" Gregory said.

"Actually, tell us what _exactly_ happened," Franziska said, "spare no detail. And do not try to tell us that you cannot remember; we know full well that vampiric memory is not affected by your old age."

Ruthven snorted. "Well, alright," she said, "I was out for a walk, getting a little fresh air, when I got turned around. I went up to the nearest building to touch the door and figure out which one it was so I could get my bearings and head back to Ossenfelder." She frowned slightly. "I got a phone call just then. It turned out to be a telemarketer, and it took me a minute to give him a piece of my mind and tell him to put me on the no-call list." She sniffed, and turned her head slightly towards the defense bench. Phoenix got the impression that her empty eyelids were narrowing under her glasses. "I was about to leave when Miss Andrews came out. I suppose she thought I was waiting to go in the building or something - she shook my hand and introduced herself, and we made a little small talk for a few minutes. I remember that she sounded very tired - she yawned and I told her to just go to bed instead of whatever she was leaving the building to do. She agreed and left. I went back to Ossenfelder right after that, since there wasn't any point in sticking around at Carmilla."

"Hmm," said the Judge, "Mr. Edgeworth, your cross-examination."

"Actually, I have a question," Phoenix said, " _why_ exactly did you go out for a walk?"

"For a little fresh air, Mr. Wright," Ruthven said, smiling.

"…we're in Los Angeles. Also, you're a vampire. You wouldn't need fresh air even if you could get it here."

Ruthven's eyebrows raised, giving the distinct impression of eye-rolling sardonicism. "It's just a turn of phrase. I can change my testimony to _stretching my legs_ or _because I could_ if you like."

"It's fine, witness," Gregory said, "I'm more interested in why the security footage shows you standing around for so long after Adrian had gone back into the building."

"It's a free country," Ruthven said.

"Witness," the Judge said warningly.

Ruthven's mouth straightened. "I was just taking in the sounds of the city. Nothing strange going on." Her posture stiffened slightly - if Phoenix hadn't been getting such an odd vibe from her for the whole time she'd been in the courtroom, he wouldn't have even been paying enough attention to notice it. "Am I a suspect?"

"Well," Gregory said.

"Yes," Franziska said.

Ruthven obviously stiffened this time. "Why should I be a suspect? I don't even know Miss Andrews - I couldn't even make it into her apartment!"

"Are we sure the crime even took place in her apartment at all?" Phoenix said, "I mean, if it hadn't, then the pool of potential perpetrators really opens up."

"We are fairly certain that that the crime took place in her apartment," Franziska said, crossing her arms irritably, "according to Adrian Andrew's own testimony, she was turned while sleeping - and she fell asleep in her apartment."

"But she didn't remember talking to Mrs. Ruthven," Phoenix pointed out, "maybe the benzodiazepine kicked in while she was walking back to her apartment, and she passed out in the hallway but just assumed she fell asleep in her own room because that was where she woke up."

"Even if she didn't fall asleep in her own room, the fact that she was there when she woke up proves that the perpetrator had the ability to enter her apartment," Franziska said, slamming her whip against the bench, "because even if she had been turned outside of her apartment, she still would have had to be carried back to it."

"Maybe a human accomplice was the one who carried her back to her apartment," Phoenix retorted.

"Maybe a human accomplice was the one who pulled the metaphorical trigger," Gregory said.

There was a pregnant pause.

"What are you going on about, Mr. Edgeworth?" Ruthven said at last.

Gregory put one hand to his chin sagely. "The venom was in a syringe, was it not?"

"It was," Franziska said, "…I see. Anyone, human or vampire, could inject that venom into Adrian Andrews' bloodstream."

"Well, this certainly changes things," Ruthven said, with a hint of sourness.

"…we did already check to see if any of the human residents or employees of Carmilla Apartments had any connection to the vampire underworld, just in case they had heard something," Franziska said, "we did not turn up anything."

"I suppose it didn't need to be someone who lived or worked in the building," Gregory said.

Phoenix blinked. "Hey," he said, "it didn't need to be anyone at all."

There was another pause, but more of an incredulous one than a pregnant one.

"And you make no sense, as usual, Phoenix Wright," Franziska said.

"No, no," Phoenix said, "I mean - what if the one who injected the venom into Adrian's bloodstream… was Adrian herself?"

"What?" the Judge said.

"It's a possibility," Phoenix said, "I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to hypnotize a neurotic human…"

"I resent that remark," Adrian said loudly. Franziska cracked her whip again.

"Anyway," Phoenix pressed on, "here's what could have happened - someone hypnotizes Edgeworth into breaking into Adrian's apartment and leaving a syringe full of venom in it, and then that same someone also hypnotizes Adrian so that at a certain time she'll put on gloves, retrieve the syringe, inject it into herself, and then go to sleep until the sun comes up, and then snap out of it."

"Interesting," Ruthven said flatly.

"Yes, very interesting," Franziska said, "however…" and she suddenly thrashed her whip across Phoenix's face.

"Aaaagh!"

"Even if she was under hypnosis, how was she supposed to inject herself when she was under the influence of benzodiazepines?!"

"Ugh…" Phoenix said, holding his face where Franziska had whipped it - he was going to need an ice pack later, and maybe some bandages too, judging by the slightly wet feel - "I didn't even think about that…"

"Of course you did not," Franziska said, "you never think, Phoenix Wright."

"The dinner deal's off, Franziska."

"Actually, you had a pretty good idea there, Phoenix," Gregory said as Franziska scowled at Phoenix, "Ms. von Karma, was a blood test done on Ms. Andrews when she showed up to report her turning?"

 _…don't you use a_ urine _test to look for benzos?_ Phoenix thought, _actually, I probably don't want to know why he's not bringing it up…_

Franziska grimaced a bit. "Ah… no, we didn't, and at this point in time we wouldn't detect anything." Her face smoothed out. "Are you implying that Adrian Andrews was not _really_ on benzodiazepine?"

"Well, we've been assuming that was, because we've been assuming that she was actually able to take her medicine that night," Gregory said.

"She _always_ takes her medicine at night," Franziska said.

"Hypnosis may have interfered with her schedule," Gregory said, "there is a simple way to this, of course. All we need is a copy of her prescription."

Franziska' jaw clenched and unclenched. Finally, she said, "your Honor, the prosecution would like to request a fifteen-minute recess in order to acquire this prescription."

"Request granted," the Judge said, banging his gavel. "This court will now take a fifteen-minute recess."

* * *

 _March 11, 12:45 AM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby B-1_

"That went in almost the complete opposite direction as I was expecting," Edgeworth said.

"Yes, good job, Phoenix," Gregory said.

"Ehe," Phoenix said, scratching the back of his head, "it just kinda occurred to me…"

"Yes, I figured," Edgeworth said dryly, "this is how you _usually_ handle someone's defense."

"Is this better or worse than the time I cross-examined a bird for you, Edgeworth?"

"Excuse me, but what?" Gregory said.

"Nevermind," Phoenix and Edgeworth said at the same time.

* * *

 _March 11, 1:00 AM, District Court, Courtroom B-1_

Court was back in session. The bottle of SRIs and a copy of the prescription for it were sitting on the defense bench.

"Alright, Mr. Edgeworth," the Judge said, "go ahead."

Gregory picked up the prescription. "This prescription was last refilled the night - after 10:15 - of February 26 with 70 pills. If Ms. Andrews was taking two pills a day from the 27th until the sixth, she would have taken 16 pills so far, meaning there should be 54 pills in the container right now." He nodded at Phoenix. "How many are there, Phoenix?"

 _Ugh, why do_ I _have to count all them?_ Phoenix grumbled internally and poured the contents on the bottle onto the desk. He counted them out, sorting them into groups of five as he went for easy verification when he was done.

One, two, three, four, five. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty. Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five. Twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty. Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five. Thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty. Forty-one, forty-two, forty-three, forty-four, forty-five. Forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty. Fifty-one, fifty-two, fifty-three, fifty-four.

Fifty-five.

"There's an extra pill," Phoenix said, almost gleefully.

"Are you sure?" Franziska said.

Phoenix pointed at the eleven groups of five. "Yeah, I'm sure. There's an extra pill."

"I highly doubt the pharmacy would overfill a prescription," Gregory said, "meaning that Ms. Andrews failed to take her medicine at some point between the morning of the 27th and the night of the sixth."

"Impossible," Franziska said.

"The extra pill is right here," Phoenix said, then put his hands on his hips. "But I agree, it is impossible… under ordinary circumstances!"

"I'd say this practically proves that the victim was awake at the time of the crime!" the Judge said, "first we see her walking around outside just a few minutes before the crime took place, and then we find out that she never took the benzippitydoodahs at all!"

"This does lend credence to the defense's hypnosis theory," Franziska admitted.

"But does the defense have an idea as to who could have been the hypnotist?" the Judge said gravely.

"Well, there was one vampire who was interacting with the victim right before the turning," Phoenix said, "so…"

"The defense would like to call Allegra Ruthven back to the stand," Gregory finished.

Ruthven took the stand, and the previous odd vibe had intensified to a full-on dangerous aura. Phoenix could swear he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stick up… more than they already were, anyway.

"Am I still a suspect?" she said with a huff.

"There are only two vampires that the victim is known to have come into contact with," Franziska said stiffly, "and the other one is not even old enough to hypnotize a lizard."

"To be fair, lizards can be pretty smart," Phoenix said under his breath. Gregory snorted.

"We would like you tell us a bit more about Adrian Andrews' behavior while you were talking to her," Franziska was saying.

Ruthven's nostrils flared. "She sounded tired," she said stubbornly, "that's all I know."

"And why would she have sounded tired?" Gregory pressed, "do you know?"

"I don't. Maybe she just had a long day at work." Ruthven's fingers drummed on the witness stand for a moment. "Wasn't she supposed to have been drugged with sleeping medication?"

"That seems unlikely at this point," Franziska said. "The defense's theory is that the defendant was hypnotized into leaving a syringe full of venom in the victim's house, and that the victim was later hypnotized into injecting herself with the syringe."

"And you _were_ seen with the victim shortly before she would have injected herself," Gregory pointed out.

"What, and you think _I_ hypnotized them?" Ruthven said defensively.

"It's a possibility," the Judge said.

Ruthven scowled, fangs bared, and abruptly ripped her sunglasses off her head and stared directly at the defense bench. Well, _stared_ \- she didn't have eyes - she just had scar-tissue-covered eyelids stretched over black, black abyssal holes in her face where the windows to her soul were supposed to be. Phoenix couldn't stop himself from reeling back a bit at the emptiness.

"How am I supposed to hypnotize someone with _no eyes?_ " Ruthven demanded, her void stare seeping into Phoenix's very being, so that he could feel a little of that hollowness himself.

"I - I don't know," Phoenix stammered, but did not look away, "I'm sure there's some way to do it. You could have used your voice-"

"-or your hands," Gregory said, "I know hypnotism, Mrs. Ruthven. You need some sort of contact to carry it out - usually, people use eye contact. But physical contact can work as well."

"Objection," Franziska said, "while it is plausible that the witness was the one who hypnotized the victim, it is impossible for her to have hypnotized the defendant!" She struck her whip against the prosecution bench. "The defendant is a _von Karma_ , whether he likes to think of himself as one or not. Even if he is out of practice, it would be nearly _impossible_ for someone of the witness' age and power to implant a hypnotic command or suggestion, no matter how inane!"

"Mr. Gregory," Phoenix said quietly, "how long have you been a vampire compared to Mrs. Ruthven?"

"She has been a vampire a few years longer than I have," Gregory muttered, "but when I hypnotized Miles at the detention center it was done so with his consent, which makes it vastly easier. I believe Ms. von Karma does have a point here."

"Maybe it wasn't the same person who hypnotized both of them," Phoenix said, "all we need to do is prove that Mrs. Ruthven hypnotized Adrian."

"And then, I suppose, it would naturally follow that Miles Edgeworth was also hypnotized," Franziska said, scoffing.

"Well, now that we know what to look for, why don't we watch that security footage from the night of the sixth again?" Gregory said, "someone going under hypnosis will have some subtle, although distinctive, changes in body language."

"Good idea," said the Judge, "bailiff-"

"That won't be necessary, your Honor," Ruthven sighed and put her sunglasses back on. "I may as well not waste another few minutes of the court's time."

"Are you confessing?" Gregory said.

"Of course I am," Ruthven said, "I did indeed call that poor girl down to the front of the building, hypnotize her, and tell her to go back to her room and shoot up with that venom."

"So you were the real- well, the real culprit!" Phoenix said.

Ruthven laughed once. "Nope, Mr. Wright. I'm just the accomplice." She grinned. "Young Mister Edgeworth was the one who planted the sleeping drugs and the syringe, and the one who told me to get Miss Andrews to inject herself with it." Her grin didn't widen so much as her lips pulled back from her teeth. "So perhaps I was the one to pull the trigger - but young Mister Edgeworth was the one who loaded the gun and put it in my hand." She drew herself up. "I know I'm going to get slain for this. But save some room in the vacuum for him."

There was a brief pause.

"Very complex," the Judge mumbled.

"This sort of complexity _is_ in-character for the defendant," Franziska said smoothly. Wasn't she bothered at all? Was she up to something?

Phoenix's breath hissed out between his teeth. "What do we do, Mr. Gregory?" he whispered, eyes still fixed on the Pyrrhically victorious Allegra Ruthven. "We're back to square one - maybe worse."

"We need to figure out how to prove that Miles was, in fact, hypnotized," Gregory said, then raised his voice: "Your Honor, if we may go back to something that was brought up last night…"

"The lockpick marks on the victim's door, no?" Franziska said.

"Were you ever able to confirm whether the marks came from the night of the crime or the attempted break-in?"

"…I sent the lock to forensics yesterday," Franziska said, "however, the results have not yet- whose phone is that? Who did not turn off or silence their cell phone in this holy garden of judgement?!"

There was brief interlude as everyone listened to " _Now whip it/Into shape/Shape it up/Get straight/Go forward/Move ahead/Try to detect it/It's not too late/To whip it/Whip it good!_ " Franziska abruptly blushed, muttered what Phoenix assumed were a few choice German swear words, and answered her phone.

 _Wouldn't have taken Franziska for a fan of Devo_ … Phoenix thought exasperatedly.

Franziska slammed her phone on the desk, coming precariously close to shattering it. "Forensics has just reported…" she said a little louder than necessary, then cleared her throat and continued in a normal volume, "…either someone locked and unlocked Adrian Andrews' door several hundred times between the crime and when it was reported, or the lockpick marks are several months old."

"Well, I think this is fairly obvious," Gregory said.

"If Edgeworth could only get into Adrian's apartment by turning into mist," Phoenix said, slamming his hands against the desk, "this _proves_ that he was hypnotized at the time!"

Ruthven's mien didn't change throughout this whole conversation, but now she shuddered through a full-body twitch.

"Give it up, Mrs. Ruthven," Gregory said, "I'm sure you know who is _really_ behind this crime."

"I'll never talk," she said in a low hiss.

"It is not as though there will be any particular consequences for you," Franziska said coolly. "After all, you're already going to get slain."

 _Harsh_ , Phoenix thought.

"It's true that there's no reason for me _not_ to tell you anything, but there's no reason for me _to_ tell you anything," Ruthven said, her surprisingly strong hands gripping the witness stand. "Even unto _true death_ , I am _loyal_ , Miss von Karma."

"Loyal?" Franziska said, "to who?"

There was a soft _tmp_ sound sound as Phoenix saw, out of the corner of his eye, Eva jump over the gallery's railing. She stalked towards Ruthven, stake in hand.

"Tell us who you're working for," she said flatly.

"Nope," Ruthven said, turning up her nose.

"That's an _order_ , Allegra Ruthven," Eva snapped.

"I won't say."

Eva scowled ferociously. "You say you're loyal and then disobey me! _I_ am the current head of the family von Karma, and as such you _must_ do as I say!"

"W-What? Why?" Franziska said. Did she not know about Ruthven's true employment status?

"I said," Ruthven said in a low voice, "I will not say. I am under orders to remain silent."

Eva stared at Ruthven for almost half a minute, eyes wide, and jerked her head up towards the Judge and said rapidly: "This is a matter that requires further investigation but Allegra Ruthven is of no use to us and Miles has been proved innocent already. Your verdict, now."

The Judge blinked. "Er- any objections? Mr. Edgeworth?"

"None, your Honor," Gregory said calmly.

"Ms. von Karma?"

Phoenix could see Franziska's hands trembling on her whip even from all the way across the court floor. "I have no objections, your Honor," she said, in a tone of voice that also said, "I would like to know just what the hell is going on here."

"Very well, then," the Judge said, nodding, and raised his gavel. "This court hereby declares the accused, Miles Edgeworth… **NOT GUILTY**." The gavel fell. "Mrs. von Karma, you may now-"

Bones clattered to the floor.

* * *

 **I had to put another JJBA reference in there with Maya mixing up Mr. Zadzoe's name, I'm sorry. I love JJBA and it is so totally relevant. (Wryyyyy!)**

 **The name "Allegra" is like one big incestuous orgy of literary references. Okay, kind of. Allegra was the name of the illegitimate daughter of Lord George Gordon Byron and Claire Clairmont. Why does this matter? Well, for one thing, Claire Clairmont was the stepsister of Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, a seminal work of Gothic fiction - and you can't have vampires as we know them today without Gothic fiction! Speaking of Gothic fiction, did you know that Polidori's "The Vampyre", or more specifically the character of Lord Ruthven, whom Mrs. Ruthven is named after, was inspired by Lord Byron himself?!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Mihoshi 2.0: Since you left that review on chapter 6, I'm assuming your questions will mostly be answered in chapter 7. (Mrs. Ruthven doesn't show up in any of my other fics, though. Although I'd still be happy if you read them.)  
** **Although actually, I did bring up the thing about reflections in the first chapter - my stated rule was that they don't have reflections in silver mirrors/mirrors with silver in them. I hadn't realized that they don't show up in photographs, though... But seriously, pay careful attention to the things I brought up in the first chapter, because one of them is going to be end up being relevant in a BIG way. Bang goes the Chekhov's gun!**

 **And yes, Ewe is a Niger-Congo language! It's spoken in southeastern Congo and southern Togo.**

 **And would you believe that I'm not actually that big of a fan of vampires (or at least I wasn't!) and I had to do a ton of research just for this fic? xD**

* * *

 _March 11, 2:30 AM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby B-1_

"Not guilty! Yessss!" Phoenix exclaimed, throwing his arms around Edgeworth.

"I - I'm just shocked that Mrs. Ruthven would participate in the turning of an innocent human being," Edgeworth said, "also, Wright - no hugging. Seriously."

"Hey, those could be _your_ bones being picked up the bailiff right now," Phoenix said, squeezing Edgeworth. How many other times had he gotten this opportunity, anyway?

"Wright," Edgeworth growled, his patience clearly running thin, "get your neck out of my face. I haven't eaten in days."

"Oh, sorry," Phoenix said, jumping back. "Not in front of your dad, right?"

" _Wright!_ "

"You walked right into that one, son," Gregory said.

"Hate to interrupt the party…" Eva said, stalking in. She came to a dead stop, posture stiff, and muttered something about how she couldn't believe she had left her _daughter_ with someone who would _gladly_ help frame an innocent man and set him up for _execution_.

"What exactly _happened_ in there?" Phoenix said at length.

"Did Franziska really not know that Mrs. Ruthven was in her family's employment?" Edgeworth said.

Eva's lips twitched. "It was more than _employment_ , Miles."

"Yes - I'd highly doubt that someone would die for just an employer," Gregory said.

"So what exactly happened?" Phoenix asked again.

Eva sighed and put a hand to her forehead. "Look - what I'm about to tell you is, generally speaking, only known to the current head of the family von Karma," she said. "You may have heard of it already, but most people believe it to be as made-up as sleeping in coffins or de-aging with blood consumption."

"Go on," Gregory said. Phoenix nodded. Edgeworth merely furrowed his brow.

"The reason why we slay any vampire that has turned someone is not _just_ to keep the vampire population from growing," Eva explained, "we also do it because the bond between a vampire and their sire - that is, the vampire who turned them - can be extremely dangerous, not only for the general population both human and vampire, but also for the turned vampire." She shifted her weight to one hip. "This bond… using this bond, the sire can demand absolute fealty and obedience from the vampire or vampires that they turned."

"So… kind of like hypnosis," Phoenix said.

"Worse than hypnosis," Eva said, "hypnosis makes you do things that you do not want to do. The bond between a vampire and its sire makes the vampire _want_ to do whatever the sire wants them to do. It's not just compulsion - it's the complete absence of free will."

There was a pause. Phoenix glanced at Edgeworth, who was already scrutinizing him out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh, but it gets better," Eva said darkly, "if given the opportunity, the sireship can actually be passed down through a family line; in other words, if a sire has human relatives, they can turn control - or at least partial control - over to them." She crossed her arms, her hands digging, claw-like, into her sleeves. "Allegra Ruthven has always been unquestionably loyal to the family von Karma, and she has never been able to disobey a direct order from the head of the family."

"You're not saying… she was sired by a von Karma?" Phoenix said, eyes wide.

"Not only sired by a von Karma," Eva said, "but also the bond between her and whoever sired her was allowed to flourish to the point where it could be passed on to the human part of the family."

"I wasn't aware that there were _any_ von Karmas who were vampires," Edgeworth said, frowning, "even as far back as 1781 - no one had ever been turned."

"But clearly someone _was_ ," Gregory said, rubbing his chin, "and they had to have been still… in operation when Mrs. Ruthven was turned."

Eva sighed deeply. "I had always suspected that my father had something to do with her being turned - ever since he showed me that she was compelled to obey the orders of the head of house. But…"

"But she disobeyed you today," Edgeworth said, "and that can only mean one thing."

"Yes," Eva said, closing her eyes. "She was ordered to participate in Adrian Andrews' turning, set Miles up to be staked, and refuse to talk by someone who 'outranked' me. But since I'm the legitimate head of the family von Karma, that could only be one person…"

She opened her eyes again. "Her sire."

* * *

 _March 11, 3:10 AM, Los Angeles_

Phoenix sighed silently as he and Edgeworth walked through the dark streets back to their respective houses, which happened to be in the same direction for a good chunk of the way - well, actually, Edgeworth was headed back to Lioncourt Library to retrieve his car. But still. Phoenix would have caught a cab, but honestly any cabdriver still running at three in the morning was probably _not_ someone you'd want to be alone in a car with.

"I wonder what the end goal was," Edgeworth said, breaking the silence.

Phoenix shrugged. "Me too. I bet we'll find out eventually - I'm sure this isn't over yet," he added darkly.

"A vampire von Karma…" Edgeworth said, more to himself than anything else. "And whoever they are… they're out there somewhere."

"And they might come for you again, only this time they'll just slay you themselves instead of trying to get the courts to do it for them," Phoenix said, turning around and walking backwards so as to face Edgeworth. "Are you _sure_ you don't remember being hypnotized? Vamp von Karma might've sent some random mook to hypnotize you, or they may have had to do it themselves thanks to your special training. So if you could just-"

"I don't, Wright," Edgeworth said irritably, "I don't remember being hypnotized. I don't even remember meeting any even remotely suspicious vampires in the few days before the crime." He sighed. "Obviously, part of the command was to forget being hypnotized, and perhaps suspecting or resisting hypnotism, at all."

"So why don't we just ask your dad?" Phoenix said, "he could do the same thing he did while we were at Kurain Village - hypnotize you to actually remember what happened."

Edgeworth scoffed. "And you saw how well that turned out," he said with extreme derision, "at this point, I'm fairly certain that my vague memories of physically turning Adrian were actually unintentionally planted by my _father_ , who had apparently already subconsciously decided that I really did turn her under hypnosis."

"Good point," Phoenix said with a sigh, "although I don't know how that would work here. What on earth could he possibly accidentally suggest?"

"Manfred von Karma," Edgeworth said drily.

There was a brief pause, in which Phoenix quickly glanced over his shoulder in order to make sure he wouldn't run into anything. "I hadn't even thought of that," he said, turning back to Edgeworth, then smiling confidently. "You know, Edgeworth, if it _is_ Manfred von Karma, that _would_ explain why-"

"Manfred von Karma is dead."

"…like, _dead_ dead?"

"Yes, Wright, _dead_ dead," Edgeworth said with a sarcastic little sneer. "That bullet he carried in his shoulder for over a decade finally caught up to him and he died of lead poisoning sometime last year. I thought you heard."

Phoenix smiled sheepishly. "I did hear," he said, "but I thought it was just a case where the rest of the world is notified of his death once he got turned…" _Although if he had been turned in prison, how would he have had Edgeworth hypnotized, anyway…? He wouldn't be able to do it himself, or hypnotize someone else into doing it…_

Edgeworth grunted. "No, he died an ignominious human death, and he's not coming back." His eyes shadowed a little bit. "It's funny. For fifteen years, I thought I had shot and killed my father… and in the end, someone still died directly because I threw that gun - and he was my father figure for much longer than my actual father…"

"He could have gotten that bullet taken out if he wanted to," Phoenix said firmly, "it wasn't your fault, Edgeworth. It was his own pride that got him in the end… plus, no offense, but it seems to me that he was an _awful_ father figure. You don't turn an idealistic kid into _the Demon Prosecutor_ without a lot of emotional abuse, and have you _seen_ Franziska? Daddy issues for _days-_ "

"Shut up, Wright," Edgeworth said irritably, "I shouldn't have brought it up. Besides, we still need to talk about- Wright, watch where you-!"

"Huh?" Just as he stepped on a soda can,

which shot out from under his foot as he went careening backwards.

He threw his arms out,

trying to catch himself using the chain link fence they had been walking next to,

and succeeding only in sending a flash of pain down his arm.

He could swear he saw stars -

a really rare sight in a city night -

as his back and then head connected with the ground.

 _Owww…_

"…Wright, are you okay?"

"Just peachy," Phoenix groaned… once his breath returned to him. "Why can't people just recycle instead of throwing junk on the street where people might trip on it…?"

"You wouldn't have fallen if you hadn't been walking backwards," Edgeworth said drily.

"Yeah, yeah, just help me up," Phoenix grumbled, reaching up his hands for Edgeworth to grab. Everything seemed to still as they both simultaneously noticed that Phoenix has skinned his palms… and naturally, they were bleeding.

"Sorry," Phoenix said abruptly, drawing his hands back towards himself faster than the eye could track and hauling his body up off the sidewalk by himself. "You haven't eaten in a while, right?"

"I… it's not a problem, Wright," Edgeworth said, although his eyes were very persistently fixed on the jacket pockets Phoenix had shoved his hands into. "I'm sure I still have some non-expired blood packs at home."

Phoenix rolled his eyes. "Blood packs, schmood packs, Edgeworth. You've been stuck in Kurain Village for days, and they didn't feed you there. You're lucky you don't pass out right now."

"Sh… shut up."

 _I'm going to Hell for this_ , Phoenix decided, pulling his hands out of his pockets and baring his palms towards Edgeworth - noticing with satisfaction how his eyes widened and lips parted minutely. "Hungry, Edgeworth?"

"You're awful, Wright," Edgeworth breathed, "simply the worst. …yes, yes I am." He swallowed hard. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but- there's an alley right over there. I'd rather not do this out in the open."

Phoenix was keenly aware of how warm the night air seemed to have gotten in the past minute or so as he and Edgeworth stole into the alleyway and - Phoenix hurriedly took off his jacket and undid his tie and the top two buttons of his shirt and hoped that Edgeworth didn't see or make any note of how flushed his face undoubtedly was right now.

"Real classy joint," he mumbled.

"Next time you should actually think about your surroundings before go and tempt me like that," Edgeworth retorted. Phoenix shivered at the air blowing over his neck. "…ready?"

"Just make sure I'll still be able to walk home," Phoenix murmured, and grimaced at the cool wetness and two, then more, points of almost pleasurable pain-

This time, he really did see stars.

* * *

 _March 11, 4:00 AM, Wright & Co. Law Offices_

"Hey, Nick. Geez, you look dead on your feet. Wait-" Maya clapped her hands to her mouth, "don't tell me…?!"

"Edgeworth's fine," Phoenix said, staggering to the couch and flopping down, putting his feet up. "We weren't really able to catch the vampire behind it all, although we do kind of have an idea… but I guess at this point we'll just have to wait for them to make another move."

"Mm. At least Edgeworth didn't get turned into dust," Maya said brightly, "but why do you look so beat? …nevermind, I see the hickey now."

"It's not a hickey!" Phoenix sputtered.

"Aww… are you two still dancing around the extreme thirst you have for each other?"

"Very funny, Maya. You know the only thing Edgeworth thirsts for is my blood."

"Hope springs eternal, Nick."

Phoenix rolled his eyes. "The day I listen to your romantic advice is the day you actually find yourself a boyfriend."

"That was a low blow," Maya pouted.

"Why the heck are you still up at four in the morning, anyway?"

"I was waiting for you to get back from underground vampire trial," Maya said, "I was pretty worried about Edgeworth… I'll go to bed now, I guess."

"Uh," Phoenix said, half-sitting up, "could you get me a bandage and a glass of juice before you do?"

"Get it yourself, Bella Swan."

"Maya…!"

* * *

 _March 18, 7:02 PM, Wright & Co. Law Offices_

"I'm home!" Pearls said, walking through the door and dropping her books neatly on Phoenix's desk, "Mr. Zadzoe taught me how to spell your first name today, Mr. Nick. P-H-E-O-N-I-X."

"P-H- _O-E-_ N-I-X," Phoenix corrected, "but you're doing very well, Pearls!"

"Yeah, I wish we were doing as well as you, Pearly," Maya said, spinning around in the wheely chair behind the desk, "we didn't get a client today either - and Nick can't even use the vampire excuse anymore. He hasn't seen Edgeworth in a week."

"He's on a case, Maya," Phoenix said. "Gumshoe said it was finally going to court yesterday - it probably dragged out into today, too."

"Or maybe he's given up on the whole Operation: Get Wright To Stay Human thing," Maya laughed.

Phoenix shrugged. "Honestly, after what I heard after his trial… well, maybe it _is_ better if I stay a human. Unless there's a way around…"

"A way around what, Mr. Nick?" Pearls said.

"Nothing, Pearls, nevermind," Phoenix said. "Now, what should we make for dinner?"

"Hamburgers!" Maya said, raising her hands in the air.

"No. We had that on Saturday."

"Can you actually make something, do you have to get takeout?" Pearls said, worrying her thumbnail with her teeth.

"Um…" Phoenix walked over to the fridge, opened it, and stuck his head in. "Well, we've got this… squash… thing."

"Oh, that's a spaghetti squash," Pearls said, "it was on sale at the grocery store a few days ago, so Mystic Maya and I got one!"

"Yeah, it basically turns into spaghetti when you roast it," Maya said, "I think it's the gods' way of giving us a divine sign that pasta is literally the best type of food in the world."

"Even better than hamburgers?" Phoenix said, removing the squash from the fridge. _Spaghetti, huh? I think we have a jar of tomato sauce in the cabinet…_

"You ever heard of a ramen burger, Nick?" There was an exaggerated sound of lips smacking. "Or a mac-and-cheeseburger!"

"Wouldn't that be too many kar-bo-hide-rates?" Pearls said, just as there was a knock on the door.

"Who iiiiiiis it?" Maya sang.

"Maya, just go get the door!" Phoenix yelled, right as a very loud bark came from what was undoubtedly a very large dog on the other side of the door. "Oh, it's probably Heidi anyway. Pearls, let her in."

Phoenix ignored the chattering of the two nine-year-old and one nineteen-year-old girls and the deep, excited barking of Phoenix-the-wolf as he googled how to cook a spaghetti squash on Maya's phone (his was in the other room and besides, he couldn't browse the internet on it - not that he ever really needed to).

"Oh yeah, Mr. Wright," Heidi said, poking her head into the kitchen, "is the gray bike with the basket out front yours?"

"Yeah," Phoenix said, looking up from the phone. "Why?"

"I think a car backed into it or something. It's all mangled."

"…what!" Phoenix yelled, dropping the phone on the counter and sprinting out the door. He _needed_ that bike to get to work! He couldn't afford taxi rides _that_ often!

He raced down the stairs and practically slid to the bike rack - realizing in the process that he had forgotten to put on any shoes. Or a coat, for that matter; it was chilly out. But dammit, Heidi was right. Phoenix's bike was _totally_ busted u-

A hand clapped over his mouth - no, not a hand, a piece of cloth, actually, a hand with a piece of cloth in it and the cloth was _damp_ and had an overpoweringly sweet smell.

Phoenix tried to scream but it was muffled and he couldn't breathe properly because it felt like his lungs were filling with ice and he was starting to get woozy. He tried to lash out at his assailant, punch them, claw blindly at where their face maybe was, but their free hand reached around and caught both of his wrists in a vice-like grip that he couldn't feel now. He tried to kick but he

but

he tried to kick but he

 _NO! Don't_

… … …

 _No…_

… …

…

….

* * *

 **De-aging with blood consumption is another reference to Dracula.**

 **The stuff about a bond between a vampire and their sire is a part of some vampire mythologies, but the absence of free will is just me extrapolating, and the passing on of sireship to family members is just me making things up.**

 **Obviously Maya calls Phoenix "Bella Swan" because he's the protagonist of a lame vampire/human romance story. ; )**

 **Yes, spaghetti squash are real, and they are delicious.**

 **And yep, Phoenix just got chloroformed! Ooh, where is this going? you wonder. Well, all I'm going to say right now that I researched what it feels to get chloroformed, so this is, y'know, accurate information right here. (Also, this is really only a short chapter because I wanted to end it with this cliffhanger.)**

 **Oh, and if you're wondering about the case that Edgeworth was on, it's just that Investigations spanned March 12-17th. It's not actually relevant, I'm just acknowledging the canon timeline.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Second-to-last chapter, guys. Oooh. I wonder where this will go? Will the last chapter just be a short "bad ending" epilogue? Muahahaha...**

 **Next update comes whenever someone leaves a review on THIS chapter, or sometime next week. Whichever comes first.**

 **By the way, this is the part where you remember the fact that vampirism is used as a metaphor for rape as if not more often as it is a metaphor for sex. :^)**

* * *

 _Date: ? Time: ? Location: ?_

His head hurt.

The first thing Phoenix saw was a stuccoed white ceiling. He realized that he must be lying on his back. Whatever he was lying on felt hard, so he reasoned that he was on the floor.

He turned his head. The second thing Phoenix saw was a wall with pale yellow paint. There were no doors or windows on it that he could see, nor were there any paintings or pictures.

"Wright?"

That was Edgeworth's voice.

"Edgeworth? Where are we? What's going on?" Phoenix tried to say, but what came out sounded more like, "Eeeeughwh, whu uu w, whu gnnnh nn…?" That was fine; his throat was too sore and his mouth too metallic-tasting to talk, anyway.

Edgeworth's face loomed into his vision, and Phoenix realized that everything was blurry - fortunately, blinking a few times more or less cleared it up.

"Wright, I - can't tell you exactly where we are, but it seems that we've both been… kidnapped. It looks as though they chloroformed you; they tossed you in here a few minutes ago, so as far as I know you haven't been out for very long. Do you remember when they got you at…?"

"S… sss, ugh, sunsset, the… the eighteenth…" Phoenix mumbled. He needed a glass of water.

Edgeworth's brow furrowed. "We can only hope they didn't keep you unconscious for long - you don't have any chemical burns on your face, so that's a good sign." He sighed. "It's hard to keep track of time now, but I was assaulted after I left court on the seventeenth, which wasn't too long ago, two days at the most, I'm sure. I suspect everyone thinks I'm just taking an unannounced day or two off since my last case was… quite a handful, so I don't know how long it will be until someone notices I'm gone - I'm sure Maya and Pearls have already noticed that you're gone, though, and if they figure out that we're together then I'm certain someone will channel me and I'll be ale to tell them where we… well, where we probably are." He blinked. "My kidnapper used a stungun on me and blindfolded me before driving me out here, but I was conscious for most of the car ride, so I'm sure we're still in or near Los Angeles, judging by how long and how fast we drove. And as far as I can tell, the style of this house is Spanish Baroque, and since there's this extra room to put their kidnapping victims in, most likely the house is rather large. That narrows it down some…"

"Mm-hmm," Phoenix said, closing his eyes again. Was this what a migraine felt like?

"Wright, wake up. We've got to figure out how to get out of here." The desperation tinging Edgeworth's voice spurred Phoenix to open his eyes again. After another few seconds of blankly staring at the wall, he sat up and looked around.

His earlier observation about the lack of windows had been correct, although there was a single door (with a backwards handle, so it locked from the outside) on the wall opposite the one Phoenix had been staring at. Edgeworth's observation that the room was an extra one was also starkly correct - there was no furniture in here. At all. Just four unadorned walls and a hardwood floor.

"I need a glass of water. My throat is really dry and my mouth tastes like metal," Phoenix croaked. "Is there any way to…?"

"There seems to be at least one guard outside the door at all times," Edgeworth said, glaring at said door. "I suppose I could get their attention and see if they'll give you a glass of water, but…"

"…it seems unlikely that they'll provide," Phoenix finished.

"It's worth a shot," Edgeworth said, standing up (he had been kneeling next to Phoenix), marching over to the door, and hammering his fist on it.

"Whatchu want _now?_ " came a Compton-accented voice from the other side of the door.

"A glass of water for the human," Edgeworth barked.

There was the briefest pause before the door clicked and a short, burly man in a black hoodie opened it. The bottom half of his face was covered with a bloodstained bandana. "A glass a' water?" he grunted.

"Yes," Edgeworth. Although his back was turned to Phoenix, Phoenix could still tell he was using the full force of the Edgeworth-von Karma Glare™ on the guard, whose bandana twitched as his nostrils flared in agitation.

"Aight," the guard mumbled, "no harm in doin' it, I suppose." He closed the door, the lock clicked again, and footsteps receded.

 _I suppose we're waiting to see how long it takes him to go from here to the kitchen or bathroom_ , Phoenix thought. If it took long enough, maybe they could send him on another errand and-

The lock clicked yet again, and the door re-opened. "Here's ya water, human," the guard said, handing the glass to Edgeworth so that he wouldn't have to actually step in the room.

"Thank you," Phoenix mumbled as Edgeworth handed him the cup. He took a long drink. The guard continued to watch him, presumably so he could take the cup back when Phoenix was done. "You know, you seem pretty nice for a kidnapper."

"I ain't no kidnapper," the guard said, huffing slightly. "I've just been told to watch the door and make sure y'all don't escape."

"Ordered by who?" Edgeworth said. The guard just narrowed his eyes.

"How come you're letting someone order you around?" Phoenix said, "are you doing it because you want to, or because you have to?"

The guard shrugged. "The boss turned my bae for me since I was too 'fraid to do it myself. She's absolutely crazy about him now… I feel like _I'm_ the side chick." He looked down at the floor, then back up. Phoenix sipped his water. "Anyway, she'll do literally anything for him now, but I'm still in love with her, y'know? So I joined this gang."

"The boss, huh," Phoenix said, getting up and handing his cup to the guard. "We're going to meet him at some point, aren't we?"

"Yeah," the guard said, "pretty soon from what I hear. …you're alright, man. I hope you make it out of this alive. Take care of yourself, aight?"

"Aight," Phoenix said, beaming weakly. The door closed and locked one last time.

"Interesting," Edgeworth said after a long silence.

Phoenix half-smiled at him. "There's something to be said for actually being _nice_ to people, Edgeworth."

"Hmph."

* * *

"Is it animal?"

"No."

"Vegetable?"

"Nope."

"Mineral, then."

"Uh-uh."

Edgeworth raised his eyebrow. "Is it an abstract concept?"

"Define _'_ abstract concept'," Phoenix said, " _anything_ can be abstracted, you know."

Edgeworth sighed irritably. "I never thought I'd find someone worse to play twenty questions with than _Larry_."

"You haven't played twenty questions with Larry in, like, seventeen years," Phoenix pointed out.

Edgeworth was silent for a moment. "You're right," he eventually said, "I've probably forgotten how bad it really was to play with him."

"Well, after he hit puberty, there were only a few things he would ever think of…"

Edgeworth opened his mouth to reply, looking slightly disgusted, but was interrupted by the distinct sound of a door unlocking. Both he and Phoenix turned to look at the door as it swung open.

"The boss wants to see you two," the guard - a different one from the soft-hearted thug before - said. "Follow me, and don't try anything funny."

"For the record, I was thinking of dark matter," Phoenix said as they got up.

"Hm," Edgeworth said, "I don't think I ever would have guessed that. You're surprisingly good at this stupid game, but then again I suppose that's to be expected…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Phoenix said. "Besides, _you're_ the one who used 'the concept of Basque nationalism' for the last round."

"Will you two shut up?" the guard said, directing them down the hallway and following close behind them.

"Hey, we had to do _something_ to pass the time in there," Phoenix said, "there's no books in there, no TV, and obviously neither one of us has his cellphone."

"You don't even have games on your cellphone anyway, Wright," Edgeworth muttered.

"And you do?"

"Well, no."

"Take this more seriously!" the guard snapped.

She ushered them into what could be best described as 'the great room'. And what a great room it was - spacious and immaculate, impeccably decorated in flawless Spanish Baroque. Opposite the archway Phoenix, Edgeworth, and the guard had entered through was a grand gold-and-red armchair that might better be described as a throne.

Occupying this throne was a tough-looking, strong-jawed old man - well, vampire, judging by the overlong canine teeth that protruded from his thin lips, giving him a perpetual sneer - with gray hair pristinely combed back over his skull, and a large Poirot mustache. He was wearing fine, very fine clothing of a rich red color, with gold embroidery and epaulettes, and a bright white silk cravat.

 _Crap,_ Phoenix thought, his eyes widening, _it's Vamp von Karma._ Who else would wear that fancy get-up?

Vamp von Karma took his pimpcane and struck it against the floor with a resounding thud. The other vampires in the room - excluding Edgeworth and including the guard that had escorted him here, so her; two beautiful, buxom white-skinned blondes (twins?) on either side of the "throne"; and two tall men, one beefy and one scrawny, on either side of the archway where Phoenix and Edgeworth were standing - stood at attention.

"Miles Edgeworth," Vamp von Karma said in a booming growl, "and Phoenix Wright. Greetings."

"…hiya," Phoenix said.

"My name is Adolf von Karma," he rumbled, "the _true_ head of the house of von Karma."

"What do you want with us?" Edgeworth said, cutting straight to the point.

"I'll make this simple, Miles Edgeworth," Adolf said, "you are a disgrace to the von Karma family. However, my plan to have you slain by the de jure head of it fell flat thanks to this meddling human."

"It was kind of a group effort," Phoenix mumbled.

"Oh, don't be so modest, Phoenix Wright." He put one hand under his chin and frowned. "I have heard certain… things about you, of course."

"Have you?" Phoenix said, looking at his socks. There was a hole in one of them - he definitely should have put on shoes before running out to check on his bike. Or better yet, not have bothered checking on his bike at all!

"Yes, I've heard that you… desire to become a vampire."

Phoenix's head jerked up. "How did you-"

Eye contact.

 _You_ do _want to become a vampire, don't you?_

"Wright?" Edgeworth's voice

 _Come here, Phoenix Wright._

Phoenix's legs were moving and he was walking towards Adolf, but he didn't want _but he did want to._

Someone grabbed his hand. Let go of him. _Let go of me._ His hand slipped languidly out of the person behind him's grasp.

"Wright!" Edgeworth "Wright, fight it-" A scuffle? _DON'T TURN AROUND._ "Wr-!"

Adolf's eyes were overpowering. Adolf's eyes were the whole world. His pupils, black - blackness was the whole world and Phoenix only saw what was right in front of him _YOU DO WANT TO BECOME A VAMPIRE, DON'T YOU?_

"Mr… von Karma." Phoenix's own voice sounded so very long gone. _Please make this stop_ , he thought, fear rising up somewhere in the back of his mind as Adolf's hand reached towards his face, _please make this DON'T MOVE. I MUST NOT MOVE. I CAN'T EVEN BLINK OR BREATHE._

Two cold fingers on one side of his jaw and one cold thumb on the other, gripping tight. Don't move. His head was forced to turn. He was just looking at the wall now - just the wall with its magnificent painting of Adolf von Karma. If he wasn't making eye contact anymore - _You will obey me._ \- surely he could throw off this hypnosis. _You idiot._ That's not even how it works. _You will obey me._ He will obey him. _He will obey_

"Look at him, Miles Edgeworth," the faraway voice of Adolf von Karma said, mercifully sounding in his ears instead of his skull. "Look how docile he is."

"Let him _go!_ " Edgeworth spat. _Please, Edgeworth_ , Phoenix thought, but he didn't know why. "What do you even want with him? He has nothing to do with your stupid family pride!" He cried out suddenly. _Don't look._

"He's clever, isn't he?" Adolf laughed, "he'd make a fine addition to my little coven. But perhaps you'd like to do the honors, Miles Edgeworth. I wouldn't have to worry about your sireship, after all. Once you're truly dead, I can just hypnotize him." The fingers moved from his jaw to his hair and yanked his head back. Don't react. "He does seem to respond well to it."

"Release him at once!"

Adolf scoffed. "If it must be this way," he said, and then Phoenix felt cool breath at his neck, then a cold line of wet. _shudder and moan_ "I _do_ like a virgin, even if B positive isn't my favorite…"

"Leave him alone!" Edgeworth yelled. The desperation in his voice was such that Phoenix could notice it even in his hazy mind. "I'll do whatever you want - you can do whatever you want with me, but _don't_ -" He screamed again. Phoenix's whole body twitched. The grip in his hair tightened. _DON'T. MOVE._

Still, he drew an involuntary breath as something ripped into his throat. _Turn your headLOOK AT EDGEWORTH ._

His heart was pounding.

 _LOOK AT EDGEWORTH I don't want him to see me like this LOOK AT HIM_ _no, please Stop FIGHTING ME_ Phoenix drew a shaky breath. _SHOW EDGEWORTH. SHOW HIM_ _Show him what? SHOW HIM WHAT HE'S MISSING stop it- WHAT HE'S LOSING._ Slowly, jerkily, Phoenix's field of vision shifted back towards the entrance of the room. _I don't want to, I don't want to OBEY ME don't make me do this_

 _OBEY ME, PHOENIX WRIGHT. YOU ARE POWERLESS TO RESIST ME. leave me alone LOOK, THERE'S EDGEWORTH. i don't want_

Edgeworth was either being restrained or supported by the two tall men, one beefy and one scrawny. One of his arms hung uselessly by his side. _you hurt him_

 _SMILE FOR HIM, PHOENIX._

 _please_

The fangs in his neck withdrew… and his knees buckled underneath him- he was on the floor. His head felt simultaneously light as air and heavy as lead, and filled with fog. _Get up. i can't_ , Phoenix thought, even as his body hauled itself up.

"You monster," Edgeworth hissed at Adolf. His face was distorted with either pain or rage or fear or all three.

"Yes," Adolf's voice said. "I am a monster. That's what a vampire is." A small pause. The world was going black. Going blacker… "Welcome to the club, Miles Edgeworth. You're just like us now."

"I'll never be like you!"

"Oh?" Adolf said, and his fingers snapped. Phoenix's legs moved again… drawing closer to Edgeworth.

 _I love it when he drinks my blood._

"S-Stop this," Edgeworth said, leaning back as far as he could in the vampire guard's grips. "Wright, please, snap out of it. Or pass out already!"

 _I want Edgeworth to make me a vampire._

"You should be awfully hungry by now, shouldn't you?" Adolf said, sounding disinterested. "You kept putting off eating during that smuggling ring case, and my servant got you before you could head home to a nice blood pack." The briefest lull. "I wonder how good your self-control really is?"

"It'd kill him," Edgeworth said through gritted teeth, screwing up his eyes and turning his head away.

"It'll only kill him if you don't inject a little venom into what blood he has left," Adolf said smoothly.

"Please, Edgeworth," Phoenix breathed hoarsely, "please," and he didn't know what he was saying or why he was saying it…

 _i don't want to die_

"Just a sip, Edgeworth," Adolf taunted.

"Just kill me already and leave him _out_ of this!" Edgeworth shouted, "please, call an ambu-" The tall, scrawny vampire squeezed the shoulder of his limp arm. "Aaaargh!"…

...

"E… dge… wort… h…" Phoenix wasn't sure if he had said that out loud or if it was just another part of the unbearable noise in his head.

Static was swarming in…

… … …

 _Don't you dare pass out_

… …

 _Stay awake_

The floor looked so inviting right now.

…

 _Stay Awake Stay Awake Stay Awake_

 _STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE_ PHOENIX WRIGHT

…

….

* * *

Phoenix was awoken by the sudden realization that he couldn't breathe. Well. He could breathe. But not very well. There was a pressure at his throat that outweighed even the pain in his chest and head, and his unbearable thirst.

Edgeworth breathed a sigh of relief and Phoenix realized that the pressure at his throat was Edgeworth pressing his cravat to Adolf's bitemark. "I was beginning to think you'd never wake up," he said softly.

Phoenix grimaced and shivered under Edgeworth's suit jacket, once again laid out over him. "What happened?"

"You were hypnotized-"

"I know, I remember. But I fainted, right…?"

Edgeworth's lips twitched. "Yes, you fainted. Adolf von Karma seemed surprised - I'm guessing he commanded you not to faint, but your body simply couldn't hold out anymore. He had us both thrown back in here - I suppose he's still trying to… break my self-control." He swallowed hard. "Either that or he just wants me to watch you die. You've lost a lot of blood, Wright. We need to get out of here."

Phoenix blinked very slowly. "I'm so tired," he murmured.

"I'll carry you if I have to. But we have to get out. Any ideas?"

"…wait for someone to channel you," Phoenix said with a slight cough. It hurt and he was pretty sure he tasted blood in his mouth. "It's hopeless, Edgeworth."

"Hopeless!" Edgeworth said, almost angrily, "since when do _you_ call anything _hopeless?!_ "

"Since now that if I get up I'll just pass out again," Phoenix said, "and you can't carry me because your left arm is still just… hanging uselessly."

Edgeworth jerked, and moved awkwardly, trying vain to shift his limp arm behind his body. It didn't go so well because he was currently using his legs to prop Phoenix's feet up. He sighed, then his jaw worked. "They… dislocated my shoulder because I tried to fight back. But-"

"But nothing," Phoenix said, "the only thing we can do now is try not to die until someone comes to rescue us."

"But if someone doesn't come soon-"

"I know." Phoenix closed his eyes. "I know, Edgeworth."

There was a long pause. An unasked question seemed to hang in the air. Phoenix opened one eye to look at Edgeworth, whose brow was so furrowed it almost resembled a canyon.

"Do you know who that guy is…?" Phoenix asked.

Edgeworth's eyes darted to the side uncomfortably. "I only know of one man named Adolf in the von Karma family line," he said, "and he was the son of the first von Karma to move to Los Angles. He was born around 1785, I believe, and they say he was murdered in either 1844 or 1845… so he's very old, and very powerful."

There was another long pause. The unspoken end of that phrase, "And we don't have a chance," seemed to hang over the room. Phoenix decided to ignore it, although he agreed with it, and answer the aforementioned unasked question instead.

"Edgeworth," Phoenix said gently, "I've decided. I'd rather die a human than live as a vampire… I know you'd rather be alone 'til Armageddon than live with taking away my… self, and me not being _me_ \- it would be like I died anyway. You'd be alone anyway."

Silence.

Edgeworth's shoulders drooped. "This can't be happening," he mumbled. "I can't believe it would come to this just because I got adopted…"

Phoenix half-laughed, smiled at Edgeworth. "Hey, we've got time now. Why don't you tell me that thing you've been meaning to talk to me about for weeks now?"

Edgeworth made an face. "It's… not important right, Wright. It's not important at all."

"I don't care," Phoenix mumbled. Darkness was pushing at the edges of his vision again. "Go ahead."

"Wright…"

"I just want to hear your voice right now…"

…Phoenix closed his eyes.

* * *

 **Phoenix's chloroforming symptoms continue to be accurate! I hope everyone learns at least something from this fic. (And you already know I did my research for blood loss.)**

 **Spanish Baroque was the style of architecture popular in Spain in 1781, so yes, I am implying that this house is as old as Los Angeles itself.**

 **You know, the fact that Edgeworth and Manfred von Karma wear "cravats" that are actually JABOTS will always bother me. But when I said Adolf was wearing a cravat, I actually meant a jabot. Sigh…**

 **Oh, and an epaulette is one of those shoulder pads with the dangly threads on them. Think Napoleon.**

 **REVIEW, PLEASE! I LOVE ME SOME CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for my crappy proofreading, lol. But if you think the editing's bad now, you should see what it looks like BEFORE I re-read it a half-dozen times!**

 **Anyway, welcome to the last chapter. I'd just like to right now thank everyone who read, reviewed, followed, and faved. Especially the ones that reviewed. Y'all're great.**

* * *

Edgeworth sighed. "You can't just demand for me to talk to you and then fall asleep, Wright."

"I'm not asleep," Phoenix said stubbornly, keeping his eyes closed. "It's just that my vision's getting all staticky and I don't want to actually see that."

"Staticky? Oh, nevermind…" he sighed again, or rather took a deep breath. "Actually, what I've been wanting to tell you is that - well, right after that case at Hazakurain temple… well, actually, Wright…"

"Get to the point, Edgeworth."

"Look, when I… came back last February, I know you were kind of upset that I immediately left again. Don't bother trying to pretend you weren't - I heard as much from Detective Gumshoe. I… also know that when I came back again after your idiot self fell off a burning bridge, you… said you thought that I was going to stay this time."

"Yeah," Phoenix said faintly.

Edgeworth took another deep breath. Only now did Phoenix notice that the sound was… off. "The truth is, Wright… I left some unfinished business in Europe and the plan was to go back. Again. Just for a few weeks, a month at most, but - but I knew you wouldn't be too happy at me leaving again."

Phoenix cracked an eyelid at him. "…how come you didn't go?"

"I… was kind of putting it off because I wanted to actually _tell_ you I was going abroad instead of just… leaving. But… I was hesitant to tell you."

"Edgeworth," Phoenix sighed, "it didn't have to be a big deal." He laughed weakly. "I can't believe that all this time, it's just been… that? You could've just texted me, 'Hey, I'm headed back to Europe, but I'll return to the States in a month.' No problem…"

"No, it's…" Edgeworth trailed off, then started again, "there's a certain reason why I wanted to avoid telling you. I…"

Was Phoenix's heart in his throat, or was that just another symptom of hypovolemic shock?

"You…?"

Edgeworth looked away. "Here and now is probably the least appropriate possible time and place for this conversation, Wright."

"Oh no you don't," Phoenix said, raising one blue-nailed hand to where Edgeworth was still holding the cravat to his neck. "Stop dancing around it and just spit it out."

"Alright, fine," Edgeworth said, with a slightly affronted air, "Wright, I… I…!" He swallowed again. "I love you. There, I said it. …s-stop looking at me like that."

"W-Wait," Phoenix stammered, "say that again?"

Edgeworth got an embarrassed expression that would have looked much more natural if he could have blushed. "What I meant to say was, I have… feelings for you, Wright. I know it's, well, completely pointless, but- it's the kind of thing where I would love nothing more than- where I would like to the spend the rest of my life with you, or rather have you spend the rest of your life with me, in a not exactly platonic way, either. So that's why…"

"I can't believe this," Phoenix said, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"I - I'm sorry. I know you… prefer women-"

"I can't believe you would wait until I'm _dying_ to tell me that my feelings are reciprocated. Who _does_ that?!"

"I. What."

Phoenix turned his head to face Edgeworth. "And you say _I'm_ the thick one!" he exclaimed, "Edgeworth, I love you - as _way_ more than just a friend. I have for a very long time now, but I always thought I didn't have a chance, and now you're telling me you-? Good grief, Edgeworth!" He let out a breath. "At least I can die happy now."

"You're not going to die," Edgeworth said faintly. He was blinking rapidly a few times - probably seriously caught off-guard by Phoenix's counter-confession.

"This whole situation is just…" Phoenix huffed, and closed his eyes yet again. "Well. Be sure to get Maya to channel my spirit after all of my organs fail because Heidi's crazy ancestor sucked out all my blood."

"Wright, you're not going to-"

"Wait," Phoenix said, his eyes flying open, "Maya!"

"…what?"

Phoenix half-sat up, ignoring the wave of dizziness that washed over him, and started rooting around in his pocket. Where was- there!

"Wright, you should lie back do-" Edgeworth started, but Phoenix cut him off.

"Take that!" He pulled the magatama out of his pocket and shoved it towards Edgeworth, who recoiled as if Phoenix had suddenly lit a blowtorch right in front of his face.

"The - magatama?" Edgeworth said, bemused, as Phoenix withdrew his hand, allowing Edgeworth to reapply pressure at his neck wound.

"Yeah, I just remembered what you mentioned the first night you told me you were a vampire," Phoenix said excitedly, "that religious symbols - from any religion - could be used to repel you as long as the wielder had faith. Well, this is the Fey clan's symbol, and I certainly believe in the Feys' powers, which is kind of a religion, so I guess this counts as a religious symbol."

"You're a genius, Wright," Edgeworth said, "and a moron for not coming up with this earlier. Can you stand up?"

"I should be fine if you support me on your good shoulder," Phoenix said, and mentally added, _or at least I hope I will be_. He put the magatama back in his pocket and carefully tied the bloody cravat around his neck.

"Alright," Edgeworth said, helping Phoenix up, "as long as you don't point that thing at me I should be fine, but that also means that we're susceptible to being attacked from behind or from the sides. We'll have to move fast - I'll get the guard to open the door, you repel him with your magatama. We'll look for a phone - there's a vampire equivalent of 911 I can call and they can instantly trace our location." His eyes darkened. "Then we'll just have to figure out how to hold out until help arrives."

Phoenix nodded. "Alright. Let's do this."

They shambled over to the door, carefully timing their movements for maximum speed. "Alright, Wright," Edgeworth said, almost whispered, "knock on the door."

Since one arm was around Edgeworth's shoulder (trying very hard to not touch the dislocated one, although Phoenix suspected he wasn't succeeding and Edgeworth was just putting on a brave face more than ever) and the other hand was clenching the magatama (which he was at least 80% sure was made out of some kind of glass), Phoenix settled for vigorously kicking the door.

For a second, everything went grey, but it cleared up around the time a previously unheard voice shouted from the other side of the door - "Try all you want, but you're not getting out!"

Phoenix practically heard Edgeworth's throat constrict. "It's the human," Edgeworth yelled back, his voice shaking slightly - Phoenix hoped that was just acting and not shoulder-related - "he's dead."

"Well, that's too bad," the guard said.

"Please… come get rid of his body."

There was a long pause, and Phoenix and Edgeworth exchanged glances. Maybe a change in tactics-?

The door unlocked, opened, the guard entered, and Phoenix shoved his magatama in their face. They hissed and drew back, and Phoenix and Edgeworth bulldozed over them and charged down the hallway with all the grace and speed of a drunken quadruped.

"What the-" the guard behind them yelled, "hey! hey! The prisoners are escaping!"

"If we survive," Phoenix gasped as he wrenched his arm backwards to fend off the guard now attempting to give chase, "remind me to kiss you when I'm _not_ bleeding all over the place."

"If we survive," Edgeworth grunted as he and Phoenix swung around a corner, "remind me to take you up on that."

"You're so sweet."

"They're getting awaaaaaaaay!" the guard wailed. Another vampire - the guard who had escorted Phoenix and Edgeworth to meet Adolf in the first place - appeared suddenly from a side room. Phoenix actually touched the magatama to her skin before she got away, and she fell back, clutching a new nine-shaped burn mark and hissing throatily.

"There's gotta be a phone around here somewhere," Edgeworth said, "kitchen, maybe? Office?"

"I don't even know where we are," Phoenix whimpered. His dizziness was threatening to overpower him again.

"Hang on," Edgeworth said, "I think I hear someone talking in that room right - there-" The combined weight of two fully-grown men was more than enough to take the door down.

There was a short freeze-frame moment as Phoenix and Edgeworth and the vampire wearing a pink t-shirt that said "Don't laugh. This is your girlfriend's shirt." on it and holding a phone next to his ear all stared at each other.

Girlfriend-shirt guy screamed in terror. Phoenix quickly chased him out of the room with the magatama. "The power of Mystic Ami compels you!"

Edgeworth grabbed the phone girlfriend-shirt guy had been using, hung up on the woman on the other end screaming "Sweetie?! What's going on?" and punched in three numbers - Phoenix didn't see which ones. Phoenix kept a close eye on the door, magatama hand still held out (although it was starting to fall asleep) as Edgeworth spoke rapidly into the phone: "We've been kidnapped. One of us is a severely injured human and we don't have much time." A quiet moment where Phoenix knew the operator was telling Edgeworth to stay calm, help was on the way, stay on the line until help arrives, please describe the situation more. "Severe blood loss," Edgeworth said, "I've done what I can but we had to run and fight to make it to this phone. He is _extremely_ pale and his pulse is practically nonexistent." Phoenix felt the sweat drip down the side of his face. "I have a dislocated shoulder myself, but I'm fine otherwise. How soon will someone get here?"

The door crashed open and the two blondes from earlier charged in. _Jeez_ , they were fast - too fast. And they wouldn't stay close enough together for Phoenix to repel both of them at the same time. This was the end of the line, wasn't it…?

There was a clatter as the phone skidded across the floor. Edgeworth gave a short yell - and suddenly Phoenix's support was yanked out from under him. The floor rushed up to greet him with all the comfort of a cement truck filled with elephants…

Black washed over the world once again.

* * *

 _Great Room_

Phoenix came to with a groan and the chair of Adolf's throne all up in his face.

"Oh, you're awake," Adolf remarked, looking down at him with a bored expression. He turned back to Edgeworth, who was once again being restrained by two vampires just in front of the entry arch, only this they were the blondes. "As I was saying before this cockroach woke up: _clearly_ killing him first didn't work, so I'll just go ahead and slay you right now, and deal with him once the dust settles."

He nodded to the blondes, who dragged Edgeworth forward as Adolf stood up out of his throne, taking his pimpcane to hand. One of the blondes shoved Edgeworth to floor, forcing him to kneel. Adolf pulled the knob of his pimpcane off with a flourish as dramatic as if he had been unsheathing an elegant rapier; at the end of the pimpcane, now, was a perfectly sharpened stake of cherry wood.

 _I've gotta do something,_ Phoenix thought in a panic.

"I'd tell you to say your prayers," Adolf said as Edgeworth looked up at him defiantly, "but we _are_ vampires." He raised the stake.

 _Here goes nothing,_ Phoenix thought, clawing his way up the side of the throne until he was on his feet.

And he punched Adolf von Karma right in the side of the head.

If this had been a movie, Adolf would have dropped like a sack of potatoes. But since it wasn't, Phoenix was the one who dropped like a sack of potatoes. But at least it was _sort of_ a distraction - Edgeworth took advantage of the split second of surprise to roll into one of the blondes' legs, causing her to fall over. The other blonde was on him in a second.

"I guess you really _do_ want to die _first!_ " Adolf said, turning around, stooping down, and grabbing Phoenix's hair with free hand and holding him up by it. He held the stake up to Phoenix's throat. Phoenix heard Edgeworth's choked cry from somewhere near the floor.

Then there was a thin shaft of wood sticking out of the front of his chest, point out. There was just enough time for everyone to look at it and for Adolf to look back up at Phoenix and snarl - and then he exploded into a cloud of dust. Phoenix dropped to the floor yet again, this time in a pile of bones.

Eva von Karma was standing at the entrance to the great room. In her hand was a crossbow, already loaded with another ash bolt, pointed at the blonde who had Edgeworth pinned.

"Now, who wants to die _next?_ " she said coolly. Both of the blondes hissed, teeth bared, shoulders hunched.

Phoenix passed out again…

* * *

 _March 20, 11:15 PM, Historic Core, Los Angeles_

Stretchers were pretty uncomfortable, Phoenix decided. Beat the heck out of the floor in that stupid house - which didn't even look like a house from the outside, for goodness' sake, it wasn't even on the ground floor of the building it was in - but still pretty uncomfortable.

And after several rapid infuser blood packs, hey, he was feeling better already!

Edgeworth not so much. He was trying very hard to avoid being evaluated by the (human) EMT.

"Sir, your shoulder appears to be dislocated-"

"I am aware of that, thank you."

"Here, let me help you with that, Miles," Eva said, grabbing his arm.

"Eva, _no-_ " She pulled on it - not a hard, fast jerk, actually, but still, she yanked his freaking arm practically right off his body! At least from Phoenix's perspective. "Aaaargh! A-Ah… that feels much better," Edgeworth said, although he was still grimacing.

"Put it up in a sling when you get home and try not to use it too much in the next few days," Eva said, then turned to the paramedic. "How is Mr. Phoenix Wright?"

"Stable," the paramedic said, "we're taking him to LA Central. He may need stitches in his neck, and an infection is possible."

"I did the best I could with what I had," Edgeworth said.

"And it's a good thing you did," the paramedic said, then returned to the other paramedic who had been treating Phoenix. "Alright, let's go."

"Does the other guy seriously not want at least an evaluation…?" the other paramedic said.

The first paramedic shrugged. "He seems competent, and he's definitely an adult in his own care, so…"

"Edgeworth!" Phoenix called as the paramedics loaded the stretcher into the back of the ambulance, "I expect to see you _and_ Maya and Pearls at the hospital tomorrow morning!"

"Of course," Edgeworth shouted back. The ambulance doors slammed shut.

* * *

 _March 21, 11:00 AM, Los Angeles Central Hospital, Observation Ward_

Not only did Edgeworth (who now had his arm in a sling), Maya, and Pearls (who was crying when she arrived because she had been so worried about Phoenix) come, but so did Ema (who was on break from school), Gumshoe, Larry (allegedly, anyway - he was probably out hitting on nurses and possibly getting kicked out of the hospital), Eva (who had brought a handwritten get-well-soon card from Gregory, which was also signed by Mr. Zadzoe and a few other names Phoenix didn't recognize), Heidi, Phoenix-the-wolf (…somehow), and Franziska (who also brought a bouquet of flowers from Adrian, a piece of paper folded in half with "DON'T DIE" written on it from Diego Armando, and a fairly thick letter that Phoenix decided to read _way_ later from Iris - all three of which had already been deposited in a chair, along with the aforementioned card).

"…am I even allowed to have this many people in my room?" Phoenix said.

"Probably not," Maya said, "we just all came to wish you get well soon and see how long it'll take before a nurse comes and kicks most of us out!"

"They said they were only going to keep me here for one more night," Phoenix said with a weak smile, "so I'll be home tomorrow morning…"

"Yeah, but how often do we get to see the inside of a hospital without getting hurt first?" Ema said.

"I don't think that's the kind of thing you should be excited about, pal," Gumshoe said.

"Mr. Nick, are your stitches going to leave a scar?" Pearls said.

"I bet they're going to leave a big, ugly one," Heidi said, "but don't worry, Mr. Wright. Phoenix has a big ugly scar on his neck, too, but he's still a good boy." Phoenix-the-wolf wagged his tail happily.

"…seriously, how did you get that dog into the hospital?" Franziska said.

"I hear security's pretty lax here, sir," Gumshoe said.

Edgeworth raised an eyebrow. "I assume this won't pose an issue."

"The self-proclaimed coven appears to have dissolved," Eva said, crossing her arms.

"Woah," Ema said, "Mr. Wright, you got kidnapped by… witches?"

There was a long pause.

"Is she the only one in here who doesn't know?" Maya said.

"Um… yeah," Phoenix said, "why don't you explain to her, Maya?"

Maya puffed out her cheeks. "Fine, whatever," she said, "c'mon Ema, let's go talk in the hallway."

"Scruffy, we have work to do," Franziska said. Gumshoe saluted, said goodbye to everyone while scratching his head, and followed Franziska out.

Eva sighed. "If people are starting to leave anyway, I suppose I'll get back to tracking down the rest of the members of the coven." She frowned. "It seems as though a lot of them were either sired by Adolf von Karma or constantly kept under hypnosis, so it is going to be rather difficult to prosecute."

"I'll stay here with Pearly," Heidi said.

"Mr. Nick, can we go buy something from the vending machine?" Pearls said. Phoenix-the-wolf barked.

"Yeah, I'm sure the hospital of all places would have healthy vending machine food," Phoenix said. The two little girls and associated dog left. Now it was just him and Edgeworth.

"…you say that, and yet I saw swiss rolls in them on the way here," Edgeworth said.

"Speaking of food, did you eat last night?" Phoenix said.

Edgeworth snorted. "There's no need to nag me about my eating habits - but yes, I did, for your information."

"Good. C'mere."

Edgeworth stood a little closer to the bed.

"Dangit, that's not what I meant and you know it. Come on, I can't sit up like this. I'll probably rip out my IVs or just pass out for the jillionth time."

Edgeworth smiled almost imperceptibly and leaned over Phoenix, who grabbed his face and kissed him.

"How's that for a happy ending?" Phoenix murmured once their lips parted again.

"Mm," Edgeworth said, "I don't think the story's over yet."

"Yep," Phoenix said, "you're stuck with me for the rest of my natural life."

"What a horrible fate."

"I just kissed a corpse for you, Edgeworth."

"And what else have you done for me lately?"

Phoenix grinned. "I punched Dio Brando in the head."

"Alright," Edgeworth said, straightening up, "that's enough. You need your rest."

"I love you, Edgeworth," Phoenix said. It felt good to say it.

"I… love you too, Wright."

Yeah. How's that for a happy ending?

* * *

 **Hypovolemic shock = blood loss.**

 **The thing about 911 being able to instantly trace your location is true! But only if you're calling from a landline.**

 **Why cherry wood for Adolf's cane-stake? Well, one of the things I learned while researching for this chapter is that professional stake makers typically use cherry or apple wood, because it's not only good stake-making wood but also because there are a few legends that connect fruit trees with anti-evil properties. One of the other things I learned while researching for this chapter is that professional stake makers exist. Hmm, wouldn't it be nice if some of my readers wired me some money over so I could buy myself a stake from these guys…?**

 **The Historic Core is the old city center of Los Angeles. It's a bad neighborhood - not the worst, but still pretty bad. (Note: I only spent a few seconds looking this up, so if you happen to live near it - no offense!)**

 **Eva relocating Edgeworth's shoulder is actually how you do, except generally speaking you should lie down first, because it's easier. But seriously, get a professional to do it for you. Or if you have to do it yourself for whatever reason, go see a professional afterwards, because you probably need physical therapy and you probably injured more than just your shoulder joint. Edgeworth only gets away with it 'cuz he's a vampire.**

… **this whole fic is basically just a ten-chapter-long first aid lesson, isn't it…?**

 **Los Angeles Central Hospital is the one from my Janaverse series… not a real hospital. (Hence the comment about lax security, because Janaverse!LA Central has a guy in the psych ward constantly escaping.)**

 **Dio Brando = ONE LAST JJBA REFERENCE FOR THE ROAD! AHAHAHA!**

 **Alright, well, that's all, folks. I'm sure you can tell by all the fourth-wall leaning in the last scene that I intend to write a sequel. But the sequel I want to write, I plan on making it DD/AA6-era, starring Apollo, featuring vampire!Kristoph, and most likely showcasing a villainous vampire even older and more powerful than dear old Adolf. (Speaking of Adolf, I hope he didn't end up being an underwhelming villain. Personally, I don't think I did *that* bad, but I do think the other villains from my other fics are better... because they don't spend eight chapters getting hyped and then get killed off by the calvary in their second scene. Oh well.)**

 **Thanks again for reading! And don't forget to donate blood!**


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